Finem Pax Romana
by WolfeyKitten
Summary: Fallout AU. Vault dweller Lovino Vargas lives a very drab life. That all changes when raiders from the wasteland invade his vault, grabbing as much as they can handle and clearing out. But a certain olive-skinned stranger only intensifies Lovino's desire for the outside world. Spamano. Spain/Romano. Hetalia.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

_Three shadows picked their way around blood stained bones and rotting scraps of flesh. They pursued a rumored fortune concealed beneath a dangerous crusade, nothing more than an unopened trove of life-giving food and purified water. Soft, careful footsteps padded quickly across hard stone, each step deliberately placed on the cold rock of the cavern floor. The cave wound into a tunnel, and an unspoken hand signal gestured for a leader as they proceeded single file. A hunting rifle swung against each raider's side, held tightly and confidently as it rubbed and scraped against the rough leather scraps that clothed the three wastelanders. Each was embellished with a large burlap sack that hung haphazardly from a crudely made belt, in hopes of collecting enough spoils to sustain them for a long enough time. A heavy steel door became visible at the end of the short passageway, and at the front of the procession, a raider's hand signaled cessation. Dark eyes met between the scavengers, seeking a mutual agreement to move forward. They each nodded their conformation, and the metal door screeched with age as it jolted at the command of a button. _

_The room behind the aperture was rusted and mechanized. Control panels lined the walls on opposite sides, and a short set of stairs led to a platform just above the ground. The raiders slowed to a stupefied walk as worn leather soles slid over the grated floor and the steel door screeched to a close behind them. Determined eyes rested on a massive gear shape in the wall as weapons relaxed against their handler's hips. Mouths fell agape as they gazed up at the colossal mechanical wonder, and bright eyes met mischievously before they diverted back to the 27 engraved on the thick, metal door._

* * *

"Lovino Vargas, you watch that mouth of yours!" Lovino had to fight to keep himself from rolling his eyes at his incessant grandfather. At sixteen years old, one would think they were finished being treated like a child. That apparently wasn't the case if you happened to be one of the overseer's grandsons. Lovino folded his arms in against his chest, and grumbled a profanity under his breath. Here they were again, fighting for the third time tonight. He glanced over at his little brother Feliciano, who sat wide-eyed behind a large canvas, a red-tipped paint brush clamped between his fingers.

"What was that, young man?" Lovino's eyes shot back to his grandfather, whose fuse seemed unusually short today. He almost never yelled at the two of them, he usually just corrected Lovino's vulgar slip of the tongue, thinking nothing of it.

"Nothing, grandpa, but I think it's time we go to bed." Lovino sneered his words, and he dropped his arms to the table as he pushed himself from his seat. It was getting late anyways, and he was tired of having to sit under the bright lights of the small cafe room. The faded red colors and worn tiles were becoming quite the eyesore these days. Lovino sauntered to the heavy iron door that marked the exit to the cafe and it opened on its own, screeching away as Lovino shuffled through the opening. He turned to look over his shoulder at his little brother, who took that as his queue to scrabble after him, fumbling with his unfinished painting and nearly dropping it. He caught up with his older brother, and the door closed behind them, leaving their grandfather still sitting at the cafe table.

Feliciano scampered along at Lovino's side, carefully adjusting the wet canvas he held under one arm, and he remained awfully quiet. Heat radiated from Lovino's flushed cheeks. He was embarrassed by the display in the cafe room, and was hurried to reach his and Feliciano's private quarters. They turned to the right down a narrow metal hallway, and slowed down in front of another steel door. Lovino pressed a code into a tiny keypad set in the wall, and the door slid away, revealing their small room and shared bed. Feliciano set his painting against the wall inside their room and dropped his paints on the short table in the corner of their bedroom. His blue vault jumpsuit was stained with red and yellow paints again, and Lovino knew he was the one who would have to get it cleaned tomorrow. For the time being, however, he just strips down to his undershirt and boxers and climbs into bed. His little brother follows suit.

They lay in bed silently, Lovino curled up defensively facing the wall, until Feliciano finally speaks up.

"Lovi?" Lovino lets out an aggravated sigh and pulls his pillow over his head.

"What is it, Feli?"

"You don't like it here, do you?" At first Lovino thought that his little brother was referring to their current sleeping arrangements, which he _didn't _like, in all honesty. But it occurred to him that Feli was referring to his life in the vault, after what he had said to his grandfather to start the fight earlier.

His brother was just pushing buttons, now.

Of course he didn't like vault life. What was there to like? It was the same thing every day. Same rooms. Same people. Same routine. Same sickening rut that was carved deeper and deeper into the cold metal floor of the vault with every passing day. Every day held the same unsatisfactory chores and the sinking feeling of his life withering away was increasing with every breath of stagnant air Lovino took. Of course, it's not like he had any choice, the outside world was uninhabitable, they said. If you take a step outside this precious vault, the radiation would fry your brain, they told him. And Lovino believed them. Of course he believed them, what else would remain of their planet after a nuclear war than nothing but untamable wastes and mutated beasts? No one could live in the wasteland beyond the vault, it was impossible. Then why did Lovino have the feeling that there was more to life than dingy metal walls and the sound of creaking pipes winding overhead?

"Go to bed Feli." The simple reply was all Lovino could muster without losing his temper once again.

"It's not because of me and grandpa, is it brother?" It struck Lovino for the first time that it must seem that way. Of course it wasn't because of them. His knuckles turned white around his old pillow.

"No. Now go to sleep. We have to go downstairs tomorrow and check for radroaches, remember?" Feliciano nodded against his pillow and was quiet for a few moments.

"Lovi?"

"For Christ's sake, what is it?"

"If it was safe to live outside, would you leave us?" Lovino sighed again. What a silly question.

"Feli, if it was safe to live outside, then we wouldn't be living in vaults." Feliciano seemed satisfied by this point, either that or he realized that he wasn't getting anything else out of his stubborn brother. He rolled off of his back to face the opposite wall, and after a few moments, Feli's steady breathing told Lovino that he had fallen asleep. His own eyelids fell to cover his eyes, and he inhaled a deep breath and let it flow out again. His muscles began to relax, and his tight grip on the dirty pillow loosened as he fell into sleep.

The next morning when Lovino awoke, his brother had already gotten dressed and left for the cafe room. He rolled over in his bed, opening his eyes to stare up at the ceiling, groaning as he did so. Feliciano was probably waiting for him to get up so they could start on their chores. He sat up slowly, rubbing his eyes and excavating the sand that had accumulated in the corners of his eyes overnight. He scanned the room, noticing Feliciano's dirty vault suit laying crumpled on the ground, and the top dresser drawer was slid open. He sighed inwardly and pulled himself from the bed, his sore back only protesting slightly.

Lovino tidied the room a bit by picking up Feliciano's jumpsuit and pulling a clean one from the open drawer, and he pushed it closed. He pulled the clean jumpsuit over his body and zipped it up, fastened his Pip-Boy to his wrist, and headed out the door, Feli's jumpsuit in his hand. He dropped it by the washing wing on his way to the cafe.

"Good morning, big brother! Look Lovi, I made you some coffee!" Lovino rolled his eyes at his younger brother's enthusiasm, but was thankful for the coffee. He took the small mug without a word and retreated to his regular table. A few other residents of the vault milled around the room, smiling and sending cheerful "good mornings" to his younger brother. Feli smiled and returned the pleasant greetings. Lovino never was a sociable person, he rarely spoke to anyone outside of his brother and his grandfather. He could, if he wanted to, but he preferred silence over meaningless conversation. It's not like there was a point to repeating the same "Good morning" every day of his pointless life.

He was startled out of his thoughts as Feli took a seat next to him, placing a stale muffin on the table in front of Lovino.

"Lovi, I brought you some breakfast! I already ate, but I know how you like muffins! We've got a job to do today so you're going to need to eat if you're gonna stay alert down on the reactor level!" Lovino sighed and pushed the muffin away. How could Feli be so cheerful when the grueling task of radroach control was ahead of them?

"I'm not hungry." He sipped his dwindling supply of instant coffee.

"But you have to eat something! Wouldn't grandpa be mad if he found out you skipped breakfast on radroach day?" Feli's high voice was beginning to annoy Lovino, but he put up with it regardless.

"I'm not a kid anymore, Feli. My eating schedule is none of his damned business." He finished his coffee off with a gulp; It had lost most of its limited heat by the time he had shown up, anyways. He slammed the cup down on the table, and it ended up sounding a lot more forceful than he had intended. He hoped Feli hadn't noticed.

They weren't supposed to go down to the reactor level for another couple of hours, but he figured that he might as well get it over with. Instructing for Feli to follow, the two brothers made their way through the metal hallways, equipping themselves as they went. Before reaching the staircase to descend into the reactor sublevel, however, Lovino heard his name called from behind.

"Lovi!" His head swiveled around, and he stopped in his tracks. He was hoping to avoid his grandfather today for as long as he could.

"Lovino, are you heading down already?" Lovino nodded, unsure of whether or not this encounter would turn into a fight.

"Ok, but be careful. And take care of your little brother, alright?" He exhaled the breath he was holding. Of course he would take care of Feli, he was only fifteen, after all.

"Is this your first time on radroach control?" His grandpa spoke at Felicino now.

Feli shook his head, auburn hair falling into his eyes. "Second!" He replied cheerfully.

His grandfather chuckled, patting Feliciano on the back.

"Ok, just keep your eyes open and never let your guard down, no matter what." Lovino rolled his eyes, something he seemed to do quite frequently around these two.

"They're just radroaches, grandpa, it's not like we can't handle the bastards."

His grandfather laughed again, but his eyes were serious. "Of course Lovino, I know you have this under control." He clapped his hands together. "Well, you best be moving on, you don't want to keep the radroaches waiting, do you?"

Lovino furrowed his brow, and his lips twisted into a snarl. "No, of course not." He turned back around, pistol in hand, and began down the stairs, his boots clinking on the metal. "C'mon, Feli."

Feliciano wished grandpa a cheerful goodbye and scampered after his brother, also armed with a small pistol. It wasn't much, but they didn't need any real firepower to fend off a radroach. They reached the bottom o the stairs, turned a sharp corner, and passed through a door that was activated by the press of a switch on the wall. Bright lights flickered on before their eyes could adjust to the darkness of this level. Not many people came down here. With the exceptions of a weekly radroach team, it was typically only entered when there was a problem with the machines that ran the vault. This time, however, the machines worked flawlessly judging by the sounds of fans whirring and pistons moving.

The brothers proceeded carefully, guns drawn in front of them as they clanked over the grated iron floor. No signs of any radroaches yet, however, the vault was a deep one. They passed through door after door, carefully searching the empty rooms for any signs of life. Lovino began to grow weary as his fingers itched to pull the trigger on his pistol, training it on every movement he thought he saw. So far, the two hadn't encountered anything to shoot. The lack of roaches wasn't surprising, though, it just meant that the weekly radroach patrols were working as planned. They only started performing these expeditions a few years ago, when the local roach population was begging to become a problem. They would venture to the upper levels of the vault and scrounge around for scraps, sometimes attacking an unsuspecting vault-dweller in the process.

Lovino and his brother passed into a large chamber, his favorite chamber in the whole vault. A smile nearly fell over his lips as he entered the room, his eyes falling to the large centerpiece. _27._ The engraved number stood out on the massive vault door. He had seen that number his entire life. It was everywhere in this godforsaken vault, from over the doors to printed on his very back, and there it was, plastered across the only exit he knew of.

The sight grew familiar, and after a moment of looking, he decided it was time to get back to work. Before he could turn away, however, an unfamiliar red light started flashing above the vault door, accompanied by a shrill siren. Lovino jumped at the sudden commotion, and Feli whimpered and hid himself behind his older brother as he kept his eyes on the massive gear. Fear shot through Lovino's body. This never happened, and he didn't have a clue as to what was going on. A thick, robotic arm swung down from the ceiling and clamped itself over the _27_ in the steel gateway. A brief pause, quickly followed by the loud sound of flowing air and screeching metal as the robotic arm pulled the vault door forward told Lovino exactly what was going on. Panic sunk in as the severity of the situation became evident and a simple fact hit Lovino.

_The vault door was opening._

His eyes were wide by the time he turned around to tell Feliciano to run. He ushered his little brother back through the door they came from, dropping his weapon on the ground in the process. Neither of them heard it clatter to the ground over the sound of the blood rushing in their ears, the radiation was going to get in and they were going to die...

They bolted through the door, not bothering to shut it behind them as they ascended the stairs through their panic. Feliciano dropped his weapon at the top of the stairs and raced to grandpa, who could be seen running toward them with a confused look to his face.

"What's going on!?" He has to shout to be heard over the sound of the sirens.

Lovino nearly crashed into him as he halted in front of his grandfather. "The vault door," he panted, pausing between words to breath, "It's opening!"

Panic and anger was obvious in his grandfather's descriptive eyes.

"Did you do this?!" He screamed at Lovi, but the only reply he could give was a shake of his head as he panted for breath. His grandfather seemed to understand now, but his panic only escalated.

"Feliciano, Lovino, you have to do exactly as I say, do you understand?" They both nodded their answer.

"Run to the cafe, and hide, hide under the counter, you might be safe there. Go! Go now!" Lovino didn't question it, he just took Feli's arm and ran. He ran all the way to the cafe room, sliding behind the counter and shoving Feli beneath it. He followed after his brother, scooting in next to him. The counter top was above their head, and there was a wall behind them. The wall was the front of the counter, the part that kept the floor of the kitchen out of view from the rest of the cafe. Unfortunately, the space in front of them was open and they could see the kitchen clearly.

It wasn't until they were tucked under the counter that Lovino started to question his grandfather's orders. How was cowering under a counter going to save them from radiation? It wasn't going to do a damn thing, that's for sure. They were as vulnerable here as they were anywhere else in the vault. Lovino scoffed, and Feliciano whimpered. This was dumb. His grandpa obviously wasn't concerned with the radiation, so why the hell did he tell them to hide under the counter? The answer hit Lovino when he heard the door to the cafe slide open. _Someone_ had to have opened the vault.

He hugged his brother close to him, trying to calm him down. They both held their breath as footsteps padded over the kitchen's hard tile. They watched fearfully as the intruder's legs came into view, the top half of his body was obscured from sight. The clothing he wore was dirty and unfamiliar, dirt was caked around the rims of his worn leather shoes and leather plates were haphazardly strapped to his shins and thighs. His belt was visible hanging down to his thigh on one side, and a knife hung down in a sheath. Something clacked against the counter opposite them. A burlap sack dangled from above, and boxes fell into it as the mysterious man started clearing out the cabinet. Lovino silently prayed to every god he knew that the man would have no reason to look beneath the counter and discover him and his whimpering brother.

A sack of rice thumped against the floor.

_No._ The man's hand chases after the fallen rice, and as he grabs it, his emerald eyes turn and meet Lovino's under the counter. Lovino's shallow breath catches in his throat, but this time, it wasn't out of fear. His eyes are a dazzling green, and something about his tanned skin and messy hair chased the fear right out of Lovino. He didn't look surprised or angry, his stunning eyes didn't portray any evil intent; he just looked... _Desperate._ Desperate for his next meal, desperate for his own survival.

Those eyes studied Lovino for a few quickening heartbeats, and Lovi remembered where he was. He remembered that this beautiful man in front of him was still armed and dangerous, despite his pretty face. In a fit of confidence, he decided he would try to lash out in the only way he knew how.

"Who do you think you are, damn bastard? Do you think you can just walk in here like it's free picking?" The man's face contorted into confusion as Lovino spoke. Lovino's Italian switched to fluent English.

"_Che palle!_ Do you not speak Italian, _idiota_?" Lovino left his brother under the counter as he clambered out from beneath it.

The stranger placed a hand over his sheathed knife, and Lovino let out a high pitched squeal as he jumped backwards into the counter. He noticed a long rifle resting on the counter on the other side of the kitchen, and his eyes darted to the stranger and back to the rifle. He had put himself in a very dangerous position. The intruder didn't move to draw his knife, and went back to work collecting all of the food from the cafe's small kitchen.

Lovino watched the raider carefully, afraid to move for fear of provoking this olive-skinned man. He pressed himself into the counter, his heart racing and fear pulsing through his veins. He hoped his face didn't show as much fear as he felt. The man danced around the perimeter of kitchen, so light on his feet that Lovino thought he might float away as he gathered the food into his sack. The refrigerator door swung open forcefully. He grabbed a few of the chilled items before pausing. Eyes wide, he scrambled for a bottle of water.

"_Dios mio,_ would you look at this water?" He proclaimed to no one in particular. His voice was heavily accented with a sing-song sound that Lovino had never heard before. It was shockingly beautiful. The man quickly unscrewed the plastic cap from the bottle and poured the contents down his throat and over his face. "_Muy bueno!_" His words came out in a language Lovi didn't quite understand. Despite his situation, Lovino quirked an eyebrow.

_This man must be from outside, from the wasteland._ A smile crossed over the strangers lips as he poured the water over his dry mouth. _But that's not possible!_

"It's so _clean_!" He actually laughed. This strange man, coming into _Lovino's _vault and stealing _his _food, found the situation joyful and uplifting.

"What's so damn funny, bastard?" Lovino snapped at the man.

He stopped laughing, and turned his head to Lovino. "If you spent your whole life drinking irradiated water from a shoe, you would laugh too." There was that accent again. That beautiful, foreign accent. _Do all wastelanders speak like this?_

His question was answered when heavy footsteps halted their brisk pace on the other side of the cafe door, triggering it to open. The man it reviled had silver-white hair and was similarly garbed. He had the same burlap sack strung over his shoulder, packed full of what Lovino presumed to be food.

"Antonio! C'mon, we're moving out!" This man's voice was completely different, not near as beautiful or breathtaking, but still intriguing.

"Wait a minute, what are you..." He shuffled into the cafe, not even sparing Lovino a glance as he let his sack drop to his side.

"Look Gilbert, water!" Antonio's face was beaming, while Lovino stared at the two of them with a look that conveyed both confusion and disgust.

"What? No way!" Gilbert snatched the water from Antonio, emptying it into his own mouth. He broke into a coughing fit, having inhaled some of it. The coughing quickly formed laughter.

"Is there... Is there any more?" He said between coughs. Antonio chuckled.

"_Sí!_ There is much more!" Gilbert's face lit up and he ran to open the refrigerator wider, shoveling the pure water bottles into their sacks, distributing them somewhat evenly. Lovino had never seen someone so damn excited over _water_. _His_ water.

When they were done looting, Gilbert pulled the rope on his bag, closing it tightly. Antonio did the same.

"Francis is waiting by the entrance," Gilbert reported, "so we really need to get outa here. Grab that bag and let's- Antonio?" Antonio had picked up his bag and slung it over his shoulder, but his eyes rested back on Lovino. Gilbert's gaze followed Antonio's, and Lovino's face contorted into a scowl. Maybe if he showed a little teeth, he would appear more menacing than he actually was.

"_Kesesesese,_ oh I see. Are you thinking of looting more than just food this time, Antonio?" Lovino would have been repulsed by that remark had he not been so confused over this "Gilbert" character's obscure laugh. Antonio's face dusted pink, but he laughed along to Gilbert's remark.

"No, no of course not, _mi amigo. _But I do agree. We have spent much more time here than we need to. Francis won't be too happy if we keep him waiting." Antonio reached for the weapon he had left on the counter. Gilbert nodded and lead the way out of the room, and Antonio padded swiftly after him. He paused on the other side of the metal doorframe, flashed his bright emerald eyes over his shoulder at Lovino, and winked. The door slid shut behind him and the handsome young raider was gone.

Lovino stared at the door for a few moments, dazed over the events that had just transpired before him and his brother. Feliciano's weak whimper could be heard underneath the counter. Lovi gathered himself enough to check on his whimpering little brother; he knelt down on the tile to come face-to-face with a wide-eyed Feli.

"Are they gone?" Feliciano's whisper was in Italian. Lovino nodded.

"Did that man, Antonio, did he really have to drink from a shoe?" Lovino had to suppress a laugh. Instead, he furrowed his brow.

"I doubt it, Feli. But we'll never know will we..." He knew he would never see that handsome stranger ever again. He should feel relieved, yet, that's not quite the feeling that was bubbling beneath his skin. It was something deep, something unfathomable, something...

_That's a problem for another day,_ he decided.

* * *

_A/N: Vault 87 is indeed a canon vault. This vault was intentionally meant to be overcrowded, allowing 2000 residents instead of the standard 1000. In this AU, the vault was contaminated with a virus shortly after closing, killing a good lot of the residents. The remaining inhabitants had a mutated immune system, allowing for more exposure to disease than the average human. This vault is also built a little backwards, compared to the average vault, seeing as the entrance is deep underground to hide this vault from the outside world.  
_

_I do not own any of the recognizable characters or themes, like Hetalia and Fallout._


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

_Armored steps fell hard against a metal floor on either side of a very important man. He walked casually, his hands entwined behind his back as he was escorted to a lower sector of the facility. Surely he had better things to do than respond to the petty calls that his commanders put in, but his superior had insisted that he resolve this issue personally. His escorts halted in front of a door. He swiftly entered a key code that allowed the door to slide away smoothly, revealing a room that was armed to the teeth with monitoring equipment. Buttons of all sizes and colors lined the control panel, and four seats sat facing the screens that decorated one wall of the room. The colonel's voice rang with authority as he spoke at one of the men who had snapped to attention at his arrival._

_"You had better have a very good reason for calling me down here, commander."_

_"Yes sir, there seems to be a disturbance in one of the vaults, vault 27, sir. It isn't supposed to open. But it appears to have just opened, colonel."_

_"Well, who, or what, opened it?" The colonel's voice remained calm and even as he spoke._

_"That's the problem, colonel. We don't have records of the vault's security cameras ever coming online. The only way to investigate the disturbance would be to do it ourselves."_

_"Then send someone down to the area to investigate."_

_"That's another problem, sir. Our forces are spread much too thin as it is. We can't afford to send a unit to Radwater."_

_"Radwater?" The colonel questioned._

_"The nearest settlement." _

_The colonel thought for a moment, carefully weighing his options._

_"Ignore the problem for now. But if the disturbance continues, send a man or two, and if they run into too much trouble to handle on their own, abort the mission. These vault dwellers aren't worth the expense of Enclave soldiers."_

_"Yes sir."_

* * *

Antonio all but fell through the door as the trio arrived back at Gilbert's small residence on the edge of a tiny settlement called Radwater. Well, it wasn't really Gilbert's, and it definitely wasn't much of a residence. The little shack was more of a place to hide old man Beilschmidt and Gilbert's little brother until they could find something more permanent. At least that's what they've been telling themselves for nearly all of Gilbert's life.

Radwater wasn't a long trek from vault 27, maybe a few hours worth of clambering over dusty rocks and ambling through sparse undergrowth. The pathway once leading to the vault was long gone after enduring 200 years of wear and tear, however, a few animal trails carved their way through the barren landscape, allowing for easy passageway over the uneven terrain. It was a good thing Antonio knew a thing or two about tracking animals.

Despite the relatively short journey back from the vault, the three raiders stumbled into the hovel, drawstring sacks stuffed with goods strung over their backs. Antonio collapsed face first into the dirty cushions of a couch worn with age. He dropped the sack by his side before he plummeted into the couch, throwing his rifle on top of it with a soft _thunk_. Gilbert and Francis followed in after him, dropping their bags as well. Gilbert's fell over on its side, spilling some of the contents onto the floor. When they were busy raiding the cabinets, they hadn't really paid much attention to what they were grabbing. Boxes of Vault-tech issued food boxes and bags littered the area around the fallen sack, each of them emblazoned with a little blond man in varying positions. The food ranged from instant mashed potatoes and macaroni to dehydrated Salisbury steaks and roast pork. And of course, precious, purified water.

Ludwig, who had been sitting at the table tuning a small radio when they walked in, had since jumped to his feet, surprised by the sudden sounds of the group's arrival. His eyes darted between the three bags of food, and back up at his older brother.

"Is that all... food?" His dull blue eyes grew wide and bright, and his mouth fell agape. This poor boy had probably never seen this much food in one place before, not even when he went to the small general goods store they had here in town.

Gilbert struck a very confident pose, all of the wariness draining from his voice as he bragged about the adventure.

"Yeah. Impressive, huh? All this totally awesome loot was just sitting there perfectly ripe to be picking. It was so easy it was like taking the candy from a baby. Or in this case, like taking mac and cheese from a whole bunch of strangely handsome and clean babies sitting in a hole somewhere..." Antonio suddenly remembered the dark haired Italian he found crouching under a counter. He couldn't have been more than eighteen, and with a mouth like his, it was a wonder that he hadn't been kicked out of that vault yet. And his whimpering little brother, they _had_ to be brothers, looked no older than Ludwig. He shook the thought as Francis spoke, his accent heavy and French.

"_Oui, oui, mon ami,_ it was quite the easy catch. 'Twas almost as if not a single man in the whole vault knew how to wield a weapon..." Francis reached into the satchel that hung from his belt and drew out a small black pistol. He held it at eye level with his finger floating beside the trigger, and admired it from multiple angles. "For instance, I found _this_ beauty just laying on the ground in front of the door! It's like they don't even care down in those... _Vaults_."

The way he said that final word made it seem like vault life was a repulsive and disgusting way to live, but Antonio knew it was just jealousy. He kept it to himself, though, he knew they were all thinking it. He sat up from his position with his face in the couch to admire Francis's new pistol. It was shiny and black, certainly different from most of the weapons they saw out here. It looked awfully valuable. Antonio decided he would throw in his two cents.

"Maybe you should sell it, _amigo._ A gun like that'll surely fetch a nice price," Antonio paused, scratching the stubble on his chin. He reminded himself to shave later. "we could definitely use some extra caps here and there. I'm sure Artie would be interested in something like that."

This time, Gilbert pitched in.

"_Kesesesesese,_ no way is he selling that totally sweet gun! Look at how shiny it is!" He _did_ have a point, the pistol was indeed shiny. But that doesn't change the fact that the gun would do them much more good in the form of caps. It was quite small and wouldn't do much damage against anything out on the wasteland, except maybe an ant or a bloatfly, or some other form of bug.

"No, Gilbert, I'm afraid Antonio may be right. There's not much this gun could be used for. Besides," Francis released the magazine with a click, and cocked back the slide. He held the single round that fell out between his two fingers. "I don't think we have any more ammo like this."

Gilbert's shoulders slumped over and he pouted. But it seemed like it was decided, they would trade the weapon when they went into town tomorrow. Gilbert turned to his little brother.

"Say Luddy, where's grandpa?" Ludwig was sitting in the floor, carefully examining the different boxes of food littered about the limited floor space. The strong blond teenager looked up at Gilbert with his deep blue eyes. His face was stern, too stern for someone his age.

"Grandpa... He went out a few hours ago. Didn't exactly say where, but he took his gun. I assumed he was just going for a walk along the river, but he really should have been back by now."

Gilbert shrugged. This wasn't the first time their grandfather went missing for more than a few hours. He would likely be back before nightfall, but he _has _been known to spend the night out. He never really told them much, but when Gilbert was younger, sometimes he would follow him and catch him stargazing alone, laying by the river and listening to the sound of the rippling waves washing against the sharp embankment. He shook away the memory, he had never told Ludwig of it; he simply never had the occasion.

"Whatever. I wanted him to see all the hot goods we bagged for you guys, but I guess it's not goin' anywhere. Us though, we'll be taking off again tomorrow afternoon."

Ludwig furrowed his eyebrows.

"So soon?"

"Eh, you know how it is Luddy, we can't stay here too long. But seriously check this out! Look at that water, it's so fresh!"

Antonio rose from the couch, picking up a bottle of water that had rolled to his feet. He threw his arms around the shoulders of his two best friends, the only two people he could trust with his life in this whole wasteland.

"_Sí! _Today is a good day to be a raider, huh _mi amigos? _We should be celebrating!" He uncapped the plastic bottle of water.

_"Ja!"_ Gilbert joined him, picking up two water bottles from the ground and thrusting one of them into Francis's hands. They both popped the caps off of the bottles.

"To vault 27's _exceptional_ generosity!" Antonio raised his bottle above his head in a mocking toast. The others followed suit, repeating the Spaniard's words.

"To vault 27!" They both cheered in unison and tipped up their water bottles as they drank to their toast.

* * *

"Tell us more Lovino!"

"Yeah Lovino, tell us more about the raiders!"

Lovino's lip quirked up in a smirk as he described exactly how the raid went. These girls would believe anything he told them; he had the three pretty ladies just eating out of the palm of his hand. He found it kind of nice being the center of attention for once, even if he normally kept to himself. His fowl mouth usually got him into trouble. He prepared to tell his story for a second time, deciding to go into detail this time.

"Ladies, ladies, calm yourselves. Let me start from the beginning," Lovino started, his smooth Italian entrancing the girls as his hand gestures told them to settle down.

"Feli and I were just finishing up radroach patrol down on the reactor level when we heard the sirens. They were even _louder _downstairs than up here, I shit you not. Then the door, _oh_ the door! It started to open! Of course, I knew what that meant! I had to get little Feli out of there as soon as possible, so we ran upstairs and I hid him under that counter right over there."

Lovino pointed from his table in the cafe room to the counter that he and his brother had hid under just hours before. A couple of his grandfather's workers were helping to restock the cabinets that Antonio had cleared out while Lovi told his story.

"What happened next, Lovi?"

"Well, this tan-skinned bastard, Antonio was his name, shows up out of nowhere. He's got a huge gun, a big knife, and the most ferocious green eyes I'd ever seen. He also looks like he's never had a bath in his life, but coming from the wasteland, he probably hasn't." A pretty little brunet cut him off.

"I thought the wasteland was uninhabitable!"

"I thought so too, at least, I did until I saw these bastards march in like they own the place. This Antonio guy said he was going to blow my head off if I didn't let him take the food."

The girls gasped.

"So I told him he might as well take it, it wasn't mine anyways. Told him I wasn't afraid, said my grandma has bigger guns than his. That made him really mad. Luckily for him though, his buddy popped in to tell him time was up and there were heading out. If he would have stayed a minute more, I would have given him what was coming to him." Lovino crossed his arms triumphantly. Boy was he loving this attention.

"Wow Lovi, you're so brave! What would you do if that raider ever showed his face around here again?"

_I would beg him to take me with them._

"I would beat his ass of course!"

His grandfather's commanding voice suddenly boomed through the cafe once again.

"Two hundred and six years!" He repeated for the third time that afternoon, in between shouting instructions.

"Two hundred and six _years _that vault door has remained sealed!" He caught sight of Lovino sitting with the girls at a table. He had been in and out of the cafe for the last couple of hours. At first he was worried about the vault dwellers and his grandsons, sending assurances and asking questions of their well being, but fortunately, no casualties were reported. Lovino didn't know how this had escalated into anger.

"And you!" He pointed a finger straight at Lovino, making him jump.

"Don't you go getting any ideas, Lovino. I know exactly how you feel about this vault." Lovino's face flushed a deep red.

"Will you mind your own damned business‽" Now it was Lovino's turn to be livid. There was no way he was going to humiliate him in front of these girls.

"Watch your mouth! Where's your brother?" Lovino slumped back in his seat. He nodded his head to where Feliciano was sitting at the table in the corner, hunched over a drawing with his coloring pencils scattered about sporadically. Grandpa just grunted in response.

"And stop bragging, would you?" That was his last remark before he marched back out of the room, throwing his arms up as he did so. Lovino just slunk further back into his seat and rolled his eyes.

_Don't get any ideas, he says._

Later that night, Lovino lay awake in bed. His eyes had adjusted to the darkness and he could just make out the small bolts that held the plates of the ceiling together. Something red flashed at the edge of his vision as he contemplated the events that had taken place that afternoon. The scene from the cafe replayed itself over and over in Lovino's mind. The strange raider's dark skin, turned tan by years of _actual_ sunlight, his astonished voice as he discovered the water, his desperate emerald eyes as he looked into Lovino's dark brown ones. But it was also the dirt on his skin, the raggedy clothing he wore, and the desperation with which he gulped down the water that stuck out in Lovino's mind. Antonio's life must be arduous. To break into a vault in search of nothing but food? They didn't even attempt to tap the vault's armory, they came solely for the food and water.

"Lovi?" Feliciano's voice shattered Lovino's thoughts and made him jump. He knew where this was going.

"What?" His reply came much too quickly. His little brother's questioning was nearly a nightly occurrence, but Lovino thought he was going to get by without it tonight. Apparently, he thought wrong. Why would he think any different after what had happened today?

"Why did you lie to those girls today?" That wasn't the question he was expecting.

"You will understand when you're older." Though Lovino said the words, he didn't think them to be true. He was sure his little brother was going to be eight for the rest of his life, foolish and honest and loud.

"Are you going to leave us now?" _That_ was the question Lovino had braced himself for.

_Yes. Yes I am. I'm going to go as far away as possible and never look back._

"I don't think grandpa would let me, even if I wanted to." This was a fact. There was no way he was leaving this vault as long as his grandfather was the overseer. Unless of course, the vault were to open again, from the outside...

"But you do want to leave, don't you Lovi?" Lovino thought he did a reasonably good job at hiding this from Feli for most of his life, but it wasn't going to stay a secret forever.

"Go to bed, Feliciano." That didn't mean that he couldn't delay the inevitable for a little while longer.

Lovino rolled over to face the wall in hopes of avoiding further questioning from his brother, a tactic that seemed to work well. He sunk back into his thoughts as he drifted to sleep. His thoughts of the beautiful stranger and thoughts of the outside world. He almost imagined what it would be like to feel rays of _real _sunshine and to be able to look up and not see a cold metal ceiling overhead. To be able to see for miles and watch as the sun set behind an actual horizon. As the line between reality and dreams began to blur, a thought flickered to life in the recesses of Lovino's mind. One day he was going to leave. He was going to put this vault behind him in search of something more, in search of the beautiful stranger who had stolen more than just food that day.

* * *

_A/N: Reviews are always appreciated!_

_I do not own any of the recognizable characters or themes, like Hetalia and Fallout._


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Radwater wasn't much of a town, more of a small pit stop in between a long road and a winding river, but it did have its small bar. If you could even call it a bar. Arthur, the proprietor of the bar, once tried to called the place "The Muddy Duck", but it never caught on. The residents of Radwater always just referred his tiny open bar as "Artie's". Artie's sat in the middle of the settlement, and was nothing more than an awning stretched out over a counter surrounded by a few bar stools. The awning was made of scraps of metal that extended from the largest building in town, this little motel that granted strangers, adventurers, and traders alike a place to rest their head on their way through Radwater. Arthur kept the place clean most days, cleaner than most of the bars Gilbert, Francis, and Antonio had drunk in. Tables dotted the dirt path around the bar, each having different and unique mismatched chairs. Francis beckoned for Arthur from one of these chairs.

"Oh Artie! _mon ami_, why don't you have a drink with us!" Arthur furrowed his bushy eyebrows from where he sat behind the bar, fanning himself with a folded piece of paper. He had yet to pour a drink for the three travelers, they appeared to have brought their own sustenance to his bar.

"You haven't even bought anything yet. And I'm not your '_ami'." _Antonio had always wondered where Arthur had picked up his ridiculous accent. Upon inquiring about it, Arthur would reply simply that 'he was British through and through'. He knew that Arthur had been born and raised in Radwater, but Antonio had never met any of Arthur's family. He wondered if Arthur _had_ any family. He knew the brit fairly well, being a regular around Radwater, but as many times as he had drunk at Artie's, he never saw Arthur with any help but his own. One thing that he _did _know about the mysterious Englishman was that he and Francis did not get along.

"_Honhonhonhon, _but Artie, we brought something special this time!" This got Arthur's attention. Gilbert kicked Francis under the table.

"Is this really the time to be flirting, Francis?" He whispered across the table. Antonio couldn't help but agree, they had important and life threatening topics to discuss.

Francis ignored Gilbert's warning he continued to antagonize Arthur from the table they shared.

"It is water! Pure as the they day it was bottled, fresh and cool and radiation free. Wouldn't you like some, Artie?" Arthur raised his distinguishable eyebrows and hauled himself up from his dirty plastic chair. He shuffled over to where the group sat in the heat of the sun, straightening his shirt and dusting off his hands. Antonio briefly wondered why Arthur even _tried_ to keep tidy anymore; the rest of them had given up years ago.

Arthur studied the unopened bottle of Vault-Tech water, a quizzical expression plastered on his face.

"I'm not going to ask where you obtained this water, but I _am_ going to ask how much you're willing to sell it for."

"Nah ah ah, It is not for sale! These are the last three bottles we have, and we are not looking to part with them just yet," This was true. "but I'd be more than happy to share!"

It had been nearly a year since they had plundered Vault 27, and had returned to Radwater only five times since that day, dropping off rations for Gilbert's little brother and grandfather. This most recent time, however, they had been surprised to find that Ludwig had saved three bottles of the purified water as a thank you to everything they had done for him. And that brought them to their most pressing dilemma. Food had become unreasonably hard to come by, as it does every year around this time of the summer. The river was low and water was scarce, and those unfortunate enough to be burdened with poverty were suffering greatly. Ludwig had picked up a low-paying job when he turned sixteen a few months ago as a member of the town's small militia. It kept him armed, but it did a poor job of putting food on the table. This is what the three raiders were in Radwater to discuss. They weren't going to get anything done, however, if Francis was going to keep harassing Arthur.

Arthur just looked at the Frenchman with disgust.

"Do I look like I want any of your blasted water?!" Arthur yelled at Francis, his hands clenched in a tight ball.

Francis gave Arthur a puzzled look.

"Actually, yes." Francis grinned as he said those words, and Arthur's face reddened. Well, he _did _show up at the mention of the clean water. Antonio watched the two expectantly, not quite sure who he was rooting for at this point. He decided on Francis, who appeared to be in the lead.

Antonio saw Gilbert kick Francis again.

"Oh _Honhonhon,_ I'm afraid you will have to excuse me, Arthur. My friends and I have a lot to talk about, and Gil doesn't seem to be in the mood for any fun. It was a pleasure, though!" Arthur's nostrils flared, and Antonio laughed a little. He knew Artie well enough to know that he wasn't actually all that angry, he was probably more upset over the fact that the trio hadn't spent any money yet than anything. He was used to Francis's taunting by now.

Arthur turned his back on the three of them and retreated through the door in the side of the building that supported the bar. He slammed it shut behind him with a loud _thunk_ and the 'do not enter' sign that hung on the door fell to the dusty ground. Arthur reopened the door, picked up the sign, carefully rehung it on the rusted nail that held in place, and made sure it was perfectly even as he did so. He slunk back through the door, shutting it gently this time to avoid any more problems.

Antonio and Francis both laughed, but Gilbert's face remained fixed in an aggravated expression.

"C'mon Gil, you have to admit that that was funny." Antonio told Gilbert, his green eyes bright with laughter.

Gilbert's face softened, and he chuckled halfheartedly. Francis opened his water bottle and looked at it longingly before taking a careful sip.

"Okay, okay, it was funny," It was always funny to press the short-tempered Brit's buttons. Gilbert's gaze reverted to a serious look and he narrowed his eyes. "But guys, I think we have to go back into the vault.

Francis nearly choked on his drink and Antonio's breath caught in his throat. Memories of that pretty Italian rushed back into his head for the first time in months. It seemed so long ago that they invaded the vault. Antonio briefly reflected on everything they had done since then, and it made the vault raid seem like a lifetime ago. Still he remembered the frightened young boy and his brother. He remembered how they cowered beneath the counter and how the dark-haired one had verbally attacked the Spaniard, first in Italian and then in English. When he crawled out from under the counter, Antonio was sure he was going to attack him somehow. But when the little Italian didn't make any move to deter Antonio from taking the goods, he knew he was safe. Still, something about that brown eyed Italian...

"You cannot be serious, Gilbert! Do you not remember what that Turkish man told us!" Francis dropped his voice to a growling sound, mocking the Turk's heavy accent.

"'You might be able to pull this off once, but try it again and you'll be drawing the wrong kind of attention.'"

"What choice do we have? Besides, that was totally a year ago. Who the hell is going to remember that?"

Francis spoke up again, his own heavy accent had made a reappearance.

"The Enclave, that's who! You know how much power they've gained in the last few years, we mustn't take that risk!" Antonio crossed his arms. The Frenchman was being much too over dramatic, but he held a valid point. After the vault opening twice, the Enclave was bound to send a unit to check it out. Five years earlier, it wouldn't have mattered. Antonio even heard tales of people crawling in and out of vaults all the way from the capital wasteland. But five years ago, the Enclave broke apart and reformed as a stronger, more democratic version of what they were before. They were doing lots of good for the people of "America" now, providing them with edible food and drinkable water where none was available. Unfortunately, there wasn't any help for Radwater, an unheard of settlement in the middle of nowhere.

"Let them send their biggest soldiers, I can take that trash any day. I'm not even worried about them. Actually sounds fun, now that you mention it..." Gilbert bared his teeth in a face-splitting smile and punched a clenched fist into his other hand, making his knuckles crack.

Antonio thought about the boy in the vault before he spoke to Francis.

"Francis, maybe Gilbert is right. Ludwig and opa Beilschmidt need food and water. What else are we to do, let them starve?" Francis paused, unsure of what to say next. He sighed.

"Okay," Francis's eyes brightened. "it's been far too long since we've seen a decent raid, _mes amis. _I hope you two are ready."

"I was born ready!" Gilbert's unique bronze eyes flashed bright red in the late afternoon sunlight as he shouted his declaration.

Antonio smiled.

"I never had any doubt that you weren't, _amigo_. so what's the plan?"

Gilbert's eyes blazed like fire each time he moved his head. The rays from the low summer sun bounced off of his shaggy white hair and left flames in his eyes as it showed the first signs of setting over the rocky horizon. His grin was maddeningly wide as he loudly spoke four short words.

"Who needs a plan?"

* * *

This last year had been the longest year of Lovino's mundane life. He sat alone at his table in the tiny cafe, drawing circles on the surface with his fingers. Everyone else who usually milled around the cafe had long since left for bed, leaving Lovino to ponder his thoughts in silence. The only sound that could be heard was the constant hum of the refrigerator in the kitchen and the soft sound of Lovino's own shallow breaths and occasional deep huffs. He watched his finger slide back and forth over the table as the bright light seemed to pulse quickly around him. The longer Lovino watched, the more obvious the inconsistent lighting became. It pulsed expeditiously, almost vibrating against the walls of the cafe and kitchen. The hum of the refrigerator still rang out in the otherwise silent cafe, growing louder and louder in Lovino's ears. The incessant humming became so prominent that he wondered how he had never picked it out before. Lovino tried to escape it by sinking into his thoughts.

Ever since the vault was raided a year ago, Lovino knew that there was something beyond the walls of the tin can he called a home. He knew it was there, actual, livable land outside, with dirt and sun and air and rain. So close yet so far. He had formulated plan after plan in his head as the year went by, wishing and praying for a way out. He waited and thought, mulled over every possible escape as his relationship with his grandfather grew worse and worse. They fought often these days, every mention of the outside world would trigger something in the both of them, typically ending in harsh words and loud voices. Lovino was finished putting up with his annoying grandfather and his irritating little brother who never saw his side. He found himself gritting his teeth and pushing his finger painfully into the table as his thoughts escalated into emotions.

The hum of the refrigerator and the oscillating light was becoming maddening by this point, the sound echoed in his ears and the light made him dizzy. He was just about to leave for his room when a deafening sound blasted harshly through the cafe room. Lovino nearly jumped out of his chair before the source of the cacophony registered in his mind. He knew these sirens well, how could he forget the sound that had changed his life nearly a year ago?

Drills organized by the overseer after the raid had taught Lovino exactly what to do in this situation. He was to run to his room and hide. If he couldn't get to his room, he was to dive through the nearest lockable door and make sure it was shut tightly behind him. His grandfather had taught him to cower behind a metal shield in the event of another raid. However, he wasn't about to do what his grandfather had tried to enforce in all of the vault dwellers "for their safety". Lovino knew exactly what he was going to do. He had played this situation over in his head plenty of times.

He jolted from his seat at the loud sound of the siren as his head began to clear and his plan worked itself into the front of his mind. He didn't give himself time to think. He didn't give himself time to doubt himself before he jumped into the kitchen and perched himself on top of the counter. He crossed his legs and trained his eyes on the large metal door and waited.

The sirens blared through the room and a red light flashed over the cafe door as Lovino's nerves started to rise to the surface. What on earth was he planning to say to the raiders that he knew where on their way to his cafe? He didn't even know if these raiders were the same ones that had invaded the vault last year, and even if they were, what would stop them from shooting Lovino dead? At some point in time the sirens stopped. He could still run and hide, he could still...

The door slid open. Lovino didn't breathe.

His heart leapt into his throat as the door fell away to reveal the gorgeous stranger from so long ago. Lovino's entire world narrowed as his eyes caught sight of the wastelander, his dark skin and messy hair. His tattered clothes and his beaten rifle that he held ready to fire. Time slowed around Lovino as he tried to work out how this was possible, how it could be that he was staring directly at the same man that had captured his heart in the brief seconds that he had been in Lovi's life. Lovino watched the man's green eyes widen and his gun lower. He _must_ recognize Lovino. He has to.

The two stared at each other for a long time. Or, Lovino thought it to be a long time, at least. What felt like minutes translated into seconds as he watched Antonio take a cautious step forward. And another. Lovino fought to keep his face calm as Antonio advanced slowly and carefully, his hardened eyes displaying his blatant curiosity. Conscious thoughts rushed back into Lovino's mind too quickly, and he didn't bother thinking before he spoke in perfect English.

"Take me with you." Lovino regretted the words the moment they left his mouth.

Antonio looked so taken aback that he might fall over.

"_Perdón_?!" He looked as though he might drop his rifle.

_Oh well._

"You heard me, bastard. I said I want to go with you." Lovino heard the blood rushing through his ears as he sat nervously on the edge of the counter, unable to quite control the words coming out of his mouth.

"Look, little Italian boy-"

"Lovino." He snapped his name at Antonio.

"Lovino..." Antonio paused, seemingly unsure of what to say next. Then he continued.

"I know it must seem boring being locked up in a vault like this, _mi amigo, _but it's nothing compared to the hell outside," Antonio paused to assess Lovino's body, taking in his figure with his deep eyes. "you will die out there."

Nothing made Lovino angrier than when someone would underestimate his abilities. His fellow vault dwellers had learned this by now. His knuckles turned white as he clenched his fists against the checkered countertop.

"How could you know that? You have no idea what I can do!" Lovino snapped his words through a thick scowl.

"Because I live out there! I know what it takes to survive out on the wasteland, and listen _amigo,_ you are much better off in here." Antonio's tone darkened as he spoke, and Lovino's only grew angrier.

Lovino hesitated. "Then death out there would be better than wasting my life in here." Lovino picked his balled fists from the countertop and folded them against his chest.

Antonio's breath caught in his lungs and he furrowed his brow as if Lovino's word's had hit him harder than any bullet in the wasteland could have. It seemed like the argument was over as Antonio stepped to the refrigerator, opening it with a slight _crack_ and the tiny light flickered on. He swept water from the top shelf into his open bag, his eyebrows never once relaxing. Hurried footsteps pattered over the metal floor in the hallway right before the cafe door opened to reveal the white-haired fellow from last time.

Gilbert took a look at Antonio's relatively empty sack, his own bag full and strung over his shoulder. "Hey Antonio, what the hell is taking you so long?"

Antonio glanced behind his back where Lovino was sitting on the counter. "This little Italian-"

"Lovino!" He corrected him.

"Lovino... Wants to come with us. Out of the vault." You could almost see the light bulb appear over Gilbert's head.

"C'mon Antonio let's take 'em" Gilbert focused his eyes on Lovino as a toothy smile formed across his face. Lovino had never felt more intimidated by a man in his life.

"_Qué?_ This boy will die out there! Plus, we can't afford to feed another mouth."

Gilbert didn't seem fazed by Antonio's words. He just looked at Lovino like he was an object to be raided. "Nah, he'll be fine. And we won't _need_ to feed him, don't you see? We get this kid and that's free passage in and out of this vault whenever we want. Surely he's got someone in here who's willing to pay to keep him in here, or he woulda left ages ago!"

Lovino butted in, hoping to help his case and tired of being talked about like he wasn't there. This guy wanted to hold Lovino ransom? At least it was out of this vault and with Antonio. "It's true. My grandfather is the overseer."

"See? I don't know what the hell that means, but it sounds important." Gilbert's smile faltered a little and he cocked his head. "Hey, isn't this the boy from last year, the one you wouldn't stop talking about for like, a month?

_He talked about me?_ Lovino watched Antonio's face turn pink.

Antonio rubbed a hand through the brown hair on the back of his head and his expression lightened a bit. "I might have mentioned him once or twice, yeah."

"Then this is the winnest of win-win situations! We get free food, he gets outa the vault, and you walk back to Radwater with your crush in tow! Why is there an argument here?" Antonio didn't have an answer, and hope replaced the deep fear in Lovino's chest. Then the door slid open again to reveal little Feliciano, and Lovi's heart fell. _Oh no.  
_

Both Gilbert and Antonio flinched, training their guns at the sudden noise, bust relaxed them when they realized that it was just the sixteen-year old boy. Feliciano looked like he was on the verge of tears.

"Lovi! Oh my god you're okay! When you didn't come back to your room when the sirens started I thought you were in trouble so I came out to find you!" He looked over at where two confused raiders stood clutching their weapons, and switched to English. "Oh! Hi Antonio, Gilbert! Long time no see!" Of course, leave it to Feliciano to greet two raiders by their names as they stole his food. But then the situation sunk in and Feli screeched.

"Ah! Are you here to kill us? Are you going to take my big brother away?! Please don't take him, please!" Feliciano was yelling in Italian again.

"Feliciano!" Lovino cut off his whining with Italian. "What are you doing, Grandpa said to stay in your room until he gave the all clear!"

"I was going to but then you didn't come back and I didn't know what to do and then the sirens stopped so I thought it would be safe! Are you going to leave Lovi?!" Tears welled in Feliciano's eyes as he continued the exchange.

"You should have stayed back, Feli." Lovino paused and looked away, unable to look his brother in the eyes. "And yes, I plan on leaving."

Lovino could tell Feliciano was choking back tears, but he didn't say anything else but 'oh.'

Then he looked up at Lovino with big, brown eyes and spoke in English. "But you'll come back, won't you _fratello?_"

Lovino was shocked. He couldn't believe that his baby brother could accept that answer so readily. For_ years_ Lovino kept it to himself, afraid of hurting sensitive little Feli. If he had known he would be so accepting...

"Of course." The words felt dry on Lovi's tongue.

Another light bulb appeared over Gilbert's head. "Why don't we just leave your vault open, so we can- so you can go in and out?"

Antonio chipped in. "But then they would be in danger."

"I could send Ludwig down to protect them. He's totally got tons of muscles now and a sweet new gun that Artie gave 'em" Gilbert's eyes flashed with fire. "I know, I know, I have all the best ideas. Please hold your applause."

Realization flooded Antonio's face, and he laughed. "Oh, I see now! Trading Ludwig for Lovino, Gilbert you _are _a sly one." Gilbert basked in Antonio's praise. Antonio jumped. "_Dios mio, _we've been in here much too long. Francis will be livid if we don't hurry ourselves. Are you ready to see the sky, Lovino?" Antonio asked Lovi as he rushed around, still stuffing his bag with boxes of food.

All Lovino could do was nod. All fear had left his body, now he only felt excitement and nervousness.

"You'll love it, I promise. Especially at this time of night." Antonio continued to stuff his bag, finally stopping and pulling the string tightly to close the sack. He stood up, huffing and putting his hand on his hips in accomplishment. "Do you got a gun?"

"Not of my own... But there's some in the vault somewhere..." Lovino was to awestruck by the speed of this whole situation to think properly.

"We'll you're gonna need to steal one, _amigo. _This isn't going to go over too well of you can't protect yourself. Where do they keep the weapons in this place?"

Lovino thought for a moment, then he remembered the emergency rifle that lay behind glass just outside of this cafe. "There's one just down the hall. Behind some glass." Lovino had barely finished before Gilbert hauled his sack over his shoulder and exited the cafe, Antonio doing the same. Lovi and Feli followed behind. Lovino heard the sound of breaking glass and a pristine rifle was shoved into his hands, along with a tiny pouch of bronze-colored bullets.

"Alright, say your goodbyes, and make it quick." Gilbert scrunched up his face impatiently as he spoke.

Lovino almost fell over when Feliciano threw himself into Lovi's arms to hug him goodbye.

"Goodbye, big brother!" Lovino rolled his eyes.

"It's not going to be forever, Feli. Make sure you explain to grandpa where I've gone, and that I'll be back. Don't forget that part." Feliciano nodded and pulled away from his brother, attempting to fake a smile.

Lovino backed away, different thoughts and emotions coursing through his body faster than he could process them. He was leaving the vault, the only life he had ever known, his brother, his grandpa, with these strangers that he didn't even know. The weight of the situation fell over Lovino like a thick blanket, and he felt as though he couldn't move, couldn't breathe. He stood on the metal floor, rooted to his spot for a few long seconds. He felt the blanket draping over his shoulders, it's weight was staggering. The sound of his name made the blanket slide to the floor as reality resumed as normal.

"Lovino." It was Antonio's attractive voice, urging him to go. His sing-song accent burst into Lovino's mind and restarted his brain. Lovino backed towards them, turning around with a few quick steps.

"_Ciao_, Feliciano." These were the last words Lovino would say to his devastated little brother for a very long time.

* * *

_I do not own any of the recognizable characters or themes, like Hetalia and Fallout._


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

_A solemn red light flashed at the corner of a security man's eye. He was shaken from his unseeing trance by the flashing light, and he kicked his rolling chair over by a few inches so that he was centered on the light. He stared at the light, which wasn't actually a light at all. It was small, read illuminated letters that flashed on the screen imbedded in the wall. The man's tired eyes scanned the screen, attempting to make sense of the sudden disturbance. "OPENING" was flashing in red, making it the most obvious word on the screen. His eyes traced a dotted line to the left of the screen, and landed on the letters "Vault 27". His curiosity piqued, he rolled his chair back to its original position in front of a large keyboard. The screen in front of him was large and black, and a single green character sat in the very top corner. A summarily colored line flashed next to the green character, and the man sitting in front of the keyboard began to type. _

cd /user/documents/vault27

_He pressed the enter key and more text displayed itself in front of him. Different text documents filled the page, most of them useless for this situation. He scanned the screen for a specific file._

view vault27openingdata . txt

vault27 set opening date: never

vault27 opened: 2077 march 14 08:17

vault27 opened: 2283 august 3 13:54

vault27 opened: 2283 august 3 14:12

vault27 opened: 2284 july 16 23:26

_That's not right at all. The man enters another line of text and presses enter._

view vault27openingprotocol . txt

Attention. Vault 27 entrance/exit unauthorized. Enforcement of previous violations delayed to a later date due to insufficient administration. Should be taken care of at the soonest possible date.

Send enforcement to Vault 27 immediately. (35.414271,-90.011415)

_It seems as though Vault 27 is long overdue for a checkup. The security man looked over at his four comrades who did their jobs as diligently as he. They all wore the same dark gray uniform and hat._

_"Vault twenty-seven is opening. Protocol says to send a unit ASAP." The men glanced over at him with interest. This could definitely be the most interesting thing to happen in a long time._

_"We don't have a unit. We could spare two to three men at most." The first man thought for a moment._

_"Have someone send a recruit or two to investigate. If the problem persists, we will see what needs to be done. If it's too much, we will have to leave these vault dwellers to their own. We can't afford to risk the lives of too many soldiers._

_"Yes sir, I'll get right on it."_

* * *

"Do you even know how to fire that thing?" The question arose between Antonio and Lovino once they breached the staircase that descended to the reactor level of the vault. What kind of question was that? Lovino had never felt more insulted in his life. Well, maybe he had.

_Not a clue. But I'll be damned if I don't figure it out really quick._

Lovino's blood rushed through his cheeks, turning his face red. How could he not know how to fire this rifle? He'd been on dozens of excavations down to the reactor level, firing at roaches with his small pistol. But he'd never found occasion to practice with a rifle, and no one had ever seen reason to teach him. It couldn't be any more trouble than a handgun, right?

"Of course I do, bastard! Do I look like a baby to you?" He probably did, thinking back on this whole experience. Antonio was an adult, probably much older than himself, and most likely saw Lovino as nothing more than a child. Lovino shook that thought, praying that it wasn't true. He didn't want to be the child that Antonio had to look after, eventually dumping him on the side of the road because he was more trouble than he was worth. Lovino was not going to let that happen. His grip on the unfamiliar rifle tightened and his teeth gritted, as if he was determined to chase away the very notion of being a child in this stranger's eyes with harsh language and lead bullets.

Antonio's lip twitched in a brief smile. It was obvious that he doubted Lovino's declaration.

"Whatever you say, _chico._ If you're lucky, you won't have to prove those words on the way outa here. We have to go through a cave before we get to the surface, but don't worry, we pretty much cleared it out on the way in here."

_Cleared it out? _Lovino wasn't sure if he wanted to know the full meaning of that. He told himself it was nothing more than radroaches, but something in his gut made him doubt that was the case.

Antonio seemed to sense his apprehension. "Don't worry. Just do as I do and you'll be fine."

Lovino stayed silent and Antonio continued, walking briskly beside him with Gilbert leading the way out of the vault.

"They kept this Vault pretty well hidden, to keep this place closed up and you guys out of danger." Antonio laughed. "Guess they can't keep you held up in the middle of nowhere forever."

Still Lovino remained silent. He didn't want to open his mouth for fear of something stupid spilling out, and he didn't want these raiders to change their minds and leave him in this vault once again. Either that or his nerves where eating him up from the inside out. Lovino decided on both as he watched Gilbert press the button that activated the sliding door leading into Lovino's favorite chamber.

Typically it was he who would activate that button, trying to hide his rising excitement and anticipation from his little brother who carried a small pistol right behind him. When he would gaze upon the door he would feel joy and awe, both of which he would never admit to feeling over something as frivolous as a door. But in this instance, it was not a handgun he clutched under his fingers, but a rifle. And it was not reverence or admiration that pulled his heavy legs forward as his eyes tore at the large rusted door. He had not expected the fear that ate his mind and rooted his feet to the ground, making every step like lead. He continued through the thick trepidation that made the air heavy and put pressure on his lungs, praying that his composure appeared more even than he felt. Which it apparently did, given that no one had seemed to notice yet. His eyes remained stationed on the door as they proceeded onward, until a voice tore through Lovino's perturbation.

"My my, what is this?" Lovino did not recognize the outrageous accent, so his eyes immediately darted to the source of the sound. The man who had uttered the words stood at the base of the closed door, one had on his hip and the other wrapped around a rope attached to a stuffed burlap sack. His hair was flowing and blond, the bedraggled locks fell to just blow his jaw. His chin was scruffy and his clothes were unkempt and obscure, his armor was of similar ragged condition as the other two raiders, but he wore a dirty indigo shawl draped on top of it. The bright purple color seemed extremely out of place on his otherwise drab attire.

Gilbert answered. "That's Antonio's. he's coming with us."

Lovino nearly choked at Gilbert's response, but kept his mouth closed. If this was any other situation, he would have torn that obnoxious man to pieces.

"_Très bien~! _Can I have second go?" The strangely accented man begged Antonio.

_Did he just-_

Antonio's eyes widened and his mouth opened to say something, but Gilbert spoke before Antonio had the chance.

"_Kesesese! _He's a pretty one, but that's why we're taking him. This little devil totally wanted out, and I figured he'd mean easy picking from the vault. Besides," Gilbert paused to look at Antonio, a wide grin on his face, "I don't think Antonio would let you have at 'em."

Antonio flustered to say something, but Lovino beat him to it. He was trying his hardest to keep a lid on that temper of his, but his steam just became too hot to handle.

"Fuck you, _bastardo!_ _Vattela a pigliare in culo!_" Maybe if he shouted at them in Italian it wouldn't be as bad. Maybe they would get confused. Antonio didn't know Italian at least.

"_Honhoh,_ quite the mouth on this one. What was that slur he was speaking?" The question was directed at Antonio.

Lovino continued instead. "That is Italian, _idiota!_ Does nobody on the wasteland have any brains?"

The flashy blond raider only laughed, infuriating Lovino further. Maybe going with these idiots was a bad idea after all. He clenched his fists against his sides and his teeth mashed together so hard that Lovino thought they might fall off. He didn't know what else to say.

The strange man still talked to Antonio. "How feisty! Definitely not in _my _tastes, but I respect your personal preferences. I prefer the easy ones~" He sighed and seemed to zone out for a moment, as if remembering something.

Antonio interrupted his brief daydream. "But Francis, you hit on Artie all the time-"

Francis spoke over the top of Antonio's words. "But Arthur, Arthur has a certain... _Je ne sais quoi _about him, I simply cannot help myself! The way he-"

"Ok, enough of that," Gilbert had to cut him off before he got started, rolling his eyes as if he had been here before. "We gotta split. You can tell us about your sexual fantasies when we get back to Radwater."

"Or not," Antonio added.

"'Or not' would be totally ok with me, and what I say, goes." Gilbert wrapped his hand around a thick lever on the control panel he stood in front of, and sirens suddenly resumed their blaring. Francis hopped out of the way as a massive arm swung down to grip the door, pulling it forward with a suction sound. Metal screamed against metal, and the floor vibrated as the door rolled to the right to reveal a dirty rock tunnel. Cool air rushed into the chamber, and the crisp, earthy smell of damp rocks and musty walls filled Lovino's nostrils. He took a deep breath of the cool, moist air as the three raiders stepped through the passage and into the dark tunnel.

Lovino followed them through the door, stepping over the metal threshold and onto the rocky ground. The uneven stone felt unfamiliar beneath Lovino's feet, he could easily feel the rock through the soft soles of his shoes. He padded after Antonio, following close behind him as the tunnel narrowed and the light dimmed. He could not see anything in front of him besides the blurry moving shadows, so he was startled when his pip-boy light activated suddenly.

Francis stopped abruptly in the front of the line, and Gilbert ran into him. Antonio paused before he could collide with the other two, and turned around to locate the light source.

"What the _hell_ is that?" Gilbert spoke as low as he could in the direction of the light.

"That's my pip-boy, _idiota!_ I guess you don't have those out on the wasteland, do you? It's light activates automatically in the dark. I _can_ turn it off, if you want." Lovino waited for an answer.

The trio just stared at him. "You mean, you have a _flashlight?_ Why the hell would you want to turn it off? Do you know hard it is to find a good flashlight?" Gilbert turned to Antonio. "_Kesesesese, _Taking this boy was the best decision we've made in a long time! But, now that I think about it, that's not saying much..."

_"Sí, mi amigo,"_ he patted Lovino on the head, making him flinch back. "Good boy!"

Lovino gritted his teeth and ignored the demeaning words for now. He wouldn't have had the chance to snap at Antonio, however, because the three raiders had already turned back around and proceeded on through the tunnel, Lovino's bright light making passage much quicker for the adventurers. The tunnel narrowed still, reaching the point where the walls brushed against either side of Lovino's dark blue vault suit. Before he could wonder if the tunnel could get any narrower, it appeared to end ahead of them. The three raiders in front of him, however, showed no signs of stopping. They turned unexpectedly at a sharp angle, and the tunnel widened into a massive cavern. Hundreds of stalactites hung down from the ceiling, some even touching to stalagmites that rose from the ground to form long, tall columns of stone. A strong stench hit Lovino's nose, almost making him stop. He put an arm up to his face to shield his nostrils from the repulsive odor.

"What the hell is that smell?" He asked, his voice sounding muffled by the fabric of his jumpsuit.

Antonio's voice came at a whisper. "Well, there is a rat's nest somewhere in the cave, not quite sure where. But don't worry, they only attack if you get too close to them. We shot a bunch on the way in here, so they probably won't be up for another round with Gilbert." Gilbert snickered ahead of them with a mess of muffled 's' and 'e' sounds. "Regardless, keep your eyes open and your gun loaded."

Lovino's blood ran cold in his veins. He had hoped that he didn't have to figure out this gun before he even had a chance to look at it in the light. His hand darted to the pouch of small bullets he had clipped securely to his belt. His fingers found a little bronze bullet as he moved through the cave, breathing through his mouth to avoid the smell of the dank and disgusting air. He brought the bullet to eye level and examined it carefully. He looked down to his rifle with a determined expression. He wasn't about to mess this up and look like a fool in front of Antonio and the other experienced raiders. Lovino had a basic idea of how to use this gun, and he could use his limited knowledge to work out exactly how he would load this weapon. He placed the bullet between his teeth for the time being, to free his hands for experimenting with the rifle. His fingers met a silver knob on the side of the rifle, and he attempted to jerk it back and forth. He found that it moved up and to the left, and then slid back to reveal a small compartment large enough for the bullet he held in his mouth.

_That has to be right,_ Lovino figured. He took the single round from his lips and fumbled to get it into the compartment, and he slid the bolt back into place, all the while quickly treading behind Antonio. _Now all I have to do is aim and pull the trigger. Easy._

Francis, leading the group out of the cave, signaled for 'stop' and crouched to the ground, his sack shuffling on his back softly. The others followed him into the same position. Lovino darted to the ground as well, mimicking these raiders like Antonio had told him.

"Do you hear that?" It was Francis who spoke in the dark, his accented voice was only at a whisper. The group stayed silent. Lovino didn't hear a thing, but Gilbert and Antonio nodded. Lovino listened as intently as he could, still unable to identify any sort of sound.

Antonio turned to him. "Turn off that light, _chico."_

Lovino moved his hand to the pip-boy, switching off the light with swift flick. The cave was immediately pitch black, and Lovino was confused as to what was going on. The group padded on before Lovino's eyes could adjust, much to his dismay. They remained close to the ground as they walked against one wall of the cavern, inching their way forward through the cave. The awkward way they where creeping forward so close to the ground was beginning to burn in Lovino's legs, and his knees felt like giving in. He stayed strong, however, desperate to prove himself as more than a whimpering vault-dweller. His rifle brushed against his thighs as he walked in this crouching position.

"Aye, _muchacho,_ stop making so much noise," Antonio's whisper beat against Lovino's ears.

_How could I make any less noise? Who does this bastard think he is? _Regardless of Lovino's internal protests, he attempts to adjust himself in a way that would satisfy Antonio. He lifted his weapon from his thigh, where it scraped against his clothing and let his feet fall softer on the cold, wet stone.

They padded forward for a few more seconds, and Antonio whispered again. "Try walking on the balls of your feet, _amigo._"

Lovino did as he was told, and it seemed to please Antonio, because he didn't say anything else for the rest of the time that they walked like this. After quite some time of winding through invisible stalagmites and over muddy stones, Lovino could see a light. A soft light, shining subtly down from the ceiling of the cave. Francis stood up, and the others did the same, including Lovino. They sped to the soft light, letting their bags rustle gently on their backs. The light was a coming from a small, rotund opening in the side of the cavern, about four feet in diameter and maybe 12 feet above their heads. Francis disappeared around a large rock and reappeared near the illuminated exit of the cave. He tossed his bag through the opening and ducked out after it. Gilbert did the same, and Antonio turned to Lovino and spoke softly.

"This is it, _muchacho._ Just follow close behind me, _sí?_" Lovino nodded, unsure of the meaning of "muchacho". He had assumed it was referring to himself. Antonio darted around the rock, hopped onto a boulder, and climbed smaller rocks like a staircase that wound around a large column. Lovino followed him, hoisting himself onto the three-foot boulder and ascending the natural staircase. He turned around the column to find himself on a stone platform in front of the opening. Fresh air filled his lungs, pleasantly temperatured and nicely scented. Lovino took a deep breath that made him dizzy. He had never experienced a smell like this, the feeling of this air in his lungs was wonderfully unfamiliar. He breathed it in again, and again. Antonio stood in the opening, his shaggy brown hair was illuminated by the soft light, and his green eyes sparkled as he gazed at Lovino, who stood breathing in the crisp, nighttime air. Antonio's perfect skin glowed in the moonlight from outside, and for a moment, Lovino felt relaxed. There was no vault anymore, no strict rules or curfew, no stale air or metal floors. He was free from that life, and he was ready to step through the opening of the cave and into a new life. A bright life with sunlight and moonlight, and with these raiders that led him out of his underground prison. He hopped that would be the case, at least. He hopped that they wouldn't abandon him after the first week. Lovino made a silent promise to behave himself.

Antonio extended a hand towards Lovino, urging him to move forward to take it. "Shall we?" Lovino looked down at Antonio's unexpected offer, and after a moment's hesitation, he stepped forward and put his own hand in Antonio's. It was warm and calloused against Lovino's soft skin and delicate fingers, his pale complexion clashing with Antonio's sun beaten one. Antonio backed to the entrance, never taking his eyes from Lovino's bewildered face, and Lovino wondered what the older man could be thinking. Lovino followed him, hand-in-hand, matching his slow footsteps out of the cave.

Antonio broke his gaze from Lovino's dark brown eyes to turn around, making sure to watch his step as he ducked under the entrance to the cave, still keeping Lovino's hand tightly between his rough fingers. he turned back towards Lovino once he had reached the other side, and watched as Lovi ducked his head under the low entrance.

Lovino stopped breathing. The night air felt cool on his skin and unfamiliar in his lungs, yes, but it wasn't until his head turned towards the night sky that Lovino took in the most breathtaking sight he had ever seen in his life.

He had never seen something so vast. So full and so beautiful, it was more than he had ever imagined the night sky to look like. The sight was unfathomable in Lovino's mind. Bright stars dotted the dark sky, more than he could ever count. They shone brightly and clearly, each one twinkling and flickering. Some things blinked their way across the sky, some things moved steadily and swiftly. Clusters of stars dotted the endless space above Lovino's head, some bright and some faint. Lovino's eyes scanned the vast dark blue sky before resting his eyes on the largest, brightest thing he could see. A huge bright gray orb that sat suspended among the thousands- millions of stars. _The moon._ Lovino made out the small craters and ridges of the moon's faraway surface. It gleamed brighter than all of the stars and illuminated the vast landscape around them. Lovino took his eyes from the sky to glance around endless landscape. He felt as though he could see for miles from the hill they stood on the side of, mostly rocky terrain and dirt filled his vision, but hundreds of brown trees sat nestled into the land. He could see a river beyond the rocky field of dead bushes, where occasional patches of green sat along the bank. Beyond the river, there were massive shadowed mountains. Nothing could compare to the astonishing view that fell before Lovino's astounded eyes. This was his first look at the world beyond his cold tunnels and squeaking halls, and boy was it something he would never forget.

Lovino crashed back into the present moment when Antonio squeezed his hand beside him, and he remembered how to breathe again. He just as quickly forgot again when his heart spend up and he glanced over at the man beside him, his eyes gleaming like the moon and lips parted in pure amazement. Antonio stared back at him, a cheerful smile on his face that made Lovino feel the same way that the sky made him feel, small and insignificant, but also uplifted and excited and purely amazing. He thought that nothing could compare to the sky's infinite beauty and perfection, but he was wrong. His heart pounded in his chest, and Lovino was sure Antonio could hear it. He tore his hand away from Antonio's, and hoped the darkness would conceal his blush.

"It is beautiful, no?" Lovino couldn't do anything but nod. He was never too good with words, but there had to be something that did the sky more justice than the word 'beautiful'. There had to be more to say here. There had to be more to say about the sight before Lovino, but he couldn't find any words powerful enough to describe his feelings. He settled on the silence to convey what he wanted it to, and he prayed that it did. Lovino wasn't even sure if he knew quite what he wanted to convey to this wonderful human being, anyways. He just wished for the silence to work to his advantage for once.

Lovino stood there for many heartbeats, taking in as much of the land and sky as he could when Antonio suddenly spoke. "You have much to learn, _mi amigo_, about this wasteland, about this life. I can tell that already. But I can teach you, if you're willing to learn." The sudden proposal surprised Lovino.

_Willing to learn? I will learn everything if it means I get to see you smile again._

Lovino pushed those thoughts into the back of his mind for now, they were going to get in the way out here.

"Of course I'm willing to learn. I didn't climb all the way out of that vault for nothing, bastard." Antonio laughed at his words, and Lovino was much too smitten to feel angry.

Suddenly, Gilbert's loud, shrill voice sounded from the base of the hill. "Are you too lovebirds going to stand up there forever?"

Lovino tensed and gritted his teeth as he snapped out of his thoughts. He wanted to yell something, anything, but he couldn't. Antonio put a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't mind Gilbert, he's always like that. You get used to it. Just a bit of a heads up though, Francis is even worse." Lovino felt sick. He could already tell that he wasn't going to like Francis and Gilbert, but when he thought of Antonio, it made everything seem worth it. He didn't want to think about it, he didn't want to admit it to himself. He didn't want to know what this meant for him, or why Antonio's smile or his laugh, or his gorgeous emerald eyes made him feel the way they did. He wanted to push that away, he wanted to ignore it like he had for the last year. But it wasn't that simple now, and a year's worth of bottled emotions were not going to be set aside so easily. They were catching up to him, and if he wasn't careful, Lovino feared that they might eat him up if he gave them the chance.

Antonio's hand moved from his shoulder, making that one spot feel colder than anything else.

Antonio yelled down at his friends and started down the hill, hauling his drawstring sack up from the dusty ground. "Coming!"

Lovino followed the man down a small path etched into the hill and sighed to himself.

This was going to be interesting.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

The trek back to the alleged "Radwater" proved extremely arduous for Lovino. It was nearly three hours of trudging through prickly undergrowth and stepping on uncomfortable rocks. The hard stones of the riverside dug into Lovino's soles with every step he took, and by the time Radwater came into view, his feet were raw and tired. He walked side by side with Antonio as the group approached Radwater.

"See that house there?" Antonio pointed at a tiny ramshackle hut in the edge of the settlement. Lovino nodded. "That's Gilbert's place. That's where we're heading. When we get there, make sure you keep your mouth shut around Gil's grandpa, alright?" Lovino was planning on it. He was trying to avoid words, afraid that they would betray his weakness. His tired, heaving voice would surely give away how unprepared for this venture he really was. He simply nodded again and continued on.

Lovino looked down at his pip-boy. He had kept the light off since the cave; the light of the moon proved to be enough to guide them over the terrain. The time on his pip-boy read as nearly three in the morning. Lovino sighed heavily.

Despite the copious protests coming from his muscles, Lovino managed to make it back to the little hut without a single complaint. Gilbert was the first one through the door, he barreled through the passageway, throwing himself over the couch where his unfortunate little brother was asleep. The large blond boy was about Lovino's age, he thought, and he jerked his head up when Gilbert crashed over him, tossing his bag carelessly across the wooden floor.

"_Nein!" _He shouted in protest, but was unable to kick the silver-headed man off of him.

"Shhhhh, Ludwig. embrace it. Feel the love, little brother." Ludwig rolled his eyes, but settled down nonetheless. Gilbert's eyes were closed by now, but he spoke anyways. "Why did we decide to go so late at night again?"

Francis was the second to come through the door, dropping his bag on the ground and falling into a chair at the table. He shrugged. "It was your idea."

"It totally was _not_ my idea. I don't get stupid ideas." Ludwig lay helplessly beneath Gilbert as his older brother denied Francis's accusation. "It was Antonio's idea."

Antonio had settled himself on the floor of the house, against a wall with his arm propped up on his knee. His eyes widened when Gilbert spoke of him. "What?! Why me?!"

"Because you come up with all of the dumb ideas," Antonio didn't appear as offended as Lovi would have been. "besides, it was totally you anyways. You are the reason I hurt." Antonio chuckled lightly to himself. Lovino pondered briefly how Antonio took that so lightly. He stood against the wall next to Antonio, aching to sit down. But for some reason, he didn't let himself take a seat. Antonio looked up at him questioningly.

"Why don't you sit down, _amigo,_ surely you're tired after such a long walk." Lovino growled at Antonio, but he was grateful for the excuse to sit down and rest his tired legs. He removed the rifle that was situated on his back, held in place by a thick, black strap, and placed it on the floor as he slid his back down the unstable wall. The moment he sat down, he felt relief flow through his body, and he closed his eyes and stifled a sigh of alleviation. He found his eyes too heavy to reopen, so he just listened to the voices phase in and out of his awareness, Gilbert's obnoxious voice pulling him awake and Antonio's soft, melodic accent lulling him to sleep. His head rolled to one shoulder as he realized that he couldn't quite keep it up any longer, but he didn't care. All he cared about was the urge to sleep, and giving in to that urge as his senses went blurry and sleep overtook his mind.

.

The sun was shining through the holes in the mediocre roof when Lovino's senses returned to him the following morning. Something was not right about his current position. The ground felt hard beneath him, and the temperature felt much too hot for his room. Then the memories of last night came flooding back into Lovino's mind and his eyes shot open. Starring back at him was Antonio's beautifully handsome face and bright green eyes, they sparkled happily and Lovino felt his lungs constrict as breathing became difficult. The perfect man before him looked like a dream, the sun illuminated him much too perfectly and his skin was much too pretty for him to be real. Lovino had to resist the urge to reach out and touch him.

"_Buenos días, _Lovino!" Lovino's head was resting in Antonio's lap. If this was a dream, then why waste it? Lovino lay there in his lap, not caring enough to move himself. He felt safe and relaxed like that, so he figured it would be ok to let that feeling linger a little longer before he woke up to find himself back in his dingy vault.

"What language is that?" Lovino asked, having been quite curious about it since the first time he heard it in the vault all those months ago.

"It is Spanish, Lovi! I am Spanish. How could you not tell?" Lovino frowned at the use of the nickname his brother used for him. _Spanish, huh?_

"They don't teach us that kind of thing where I come from," He knew about Spain, but not much. He knew where it was on the map, but that was about it. "what about those other two bastards?"

Antonio smiled. "Francis is French, and Gilbert is German. Same with his little brother, Ludwig." Lovino sat up and nodded, instantly regretting removing his head from the Spaniard's lap as his back screamed in protest. He looked around the vacant room.

"Where is everyone?"

"Well, Ludwig is probably working... and Gilbert and Francis went into town. Well, I say town... They're probably giving Artie lots of trouble as I speak, actually." Lovino snorted, wondering who Artie was.

"Why didn't you go with them?" Lovino questioned.

Antonio smiled and cheerfully cocked his head to one side. "I had to wait for you to wake up, silly!" This made Lovino growl.

"I'm not a baby, damn bastard! You don't have look after me like a fucking child!" His fists were squeezed together tightly as he shouted the profanities at Antonio.

Antonio only laughed. "I wasn't looking after you, I just didn't want to wake you up! You're so cute when you're sleeping, did you know?" Lovino's face went red. How could he think that? They haven't known each other for more than a day and he was already cute. Are all wastelanders like this? Because so far, it sure did seen like it. Antonio continued.

"But now that you're awake, we can head into town too! C'mon Lovi!" Lovino winced again as Antonio got up from the ground.

"Did I say you could call me Lovi?" Antonio extended his hand down to where Lovi still sat on the ground. He considered not taking it.

Antonio laughed. "You're mine now, little Italian, I can call you whatever I want, really." If it had been anybody else, _anybody else,_ Lovino would have been fuming with anger now. But no, for some reason, the Spaniard's cheerful laugh and happy face chased all of the anger away from his body. His cheeks remained flushed and he reached up for Antonio's hand. He couldn't let Antonio know what he thought. He reached into his mind, searching for something to say to Antonio to combat his distasteful comment. All that he could manage to pull out of his mouth was a grumbled "shut up."

Antonio pulled him off of the ground. Lovino's muscles felt numb, and his legs threatened to buckle beneath him. Despite the pain in his back and his unstable legs, Lovino stayed up, dusting as much dirt as he could off of his vault suit without looking strange or awkward in front of Antonio.

"You want something to eat, _amigo?_"

"No," he lied.

"Well too bad. I was thinking, and I have to ask you something. Do you got tomatoes in that vault of yours?" What a strange question. At least, it sounded strange from Lovino's point of view. He knew what tomatoes were, he knew they were in his pasta and on his pizza, but he had never had one.

"No." He answered plainly but truthfully. Antonio grabbed his hand and started to pull him towards the front door.

"Ah, then you are in for a treat, my friend! Come, we will go meet the others, no? Make sure you grab that gun of yours, okay?" Lovino didn't bother resisting, he was itching to see Radwater anyways. He reached his arm out to grab the black rifle that was leaning against the wall next to the door, securing its strap on his back as he was tugged onward. But there was one thing that he couldn't help but wonder about this Spaniard. _What is wrong with this man? _

Lovino had never seen someone so friendly, cheerful, and easygoing as this man he had met only last night. Well, officially met anyways. And that's saying something, considering he grew up in a vault full of Italians. It could just be that no one had ever shown much kindness to Lovino, because the minute he opened his mouth, it usually drove people away to his kind-hearted little brother. Antonio, however, did not seem deterred by his colorful vocabulary. Lovino silently hoped that Antonio would never have the pleasure of meeting Feliciano, lest he decide that he likes Feli a lot more than he likes Lovino. Provided that he likes Lovino in the first place, and doesn't just see him as a toy.

Antonio pulled Lovi through the front door that he had shoved open with a little effort. From what Lovino could see, the door took quite a bit of pushing to get it open. Once out the door, the sunlight hit Lovino like a hot frying pan. He had never felt heat like this come from anywhere but an oven, and he wondered briefly how it had been so cool the night before. Though he had to admit, the sunlight did feel amazing on his skin.

The landscape looked slightly different in the light of the midday sun. The rocks were revealed in their full color, a dusty sort of brown, and to his right, the wide river rippled by with the bright light bouncing off of its tiny waves. The sky was bright blue and dotted with a few clouds, and ahead of them was a beaten dirt path that led to small town center. They trotted down the path, Antonio pulling Lovino forward closer into the settlement. The closer Lovi got to the little square-like center, the more he could make out. He noticed buildings lining the clearing, each having a makeshift sign over the top of them to publically display the purpose of each building. The largest building, Lovino noticed, was labeled as "Motel" it had two stories, more than any other building in the settlement, and was made out of bricks. A few windows set in the front of the building, each in varying states of disrepair. On the corner of the big, brick building, an awning of scrap metal stretched out over a counter and was labeled "Artie's".

_That would explain who Artie is, _Lovino thought.

A couple of tables sat in the clearing in front of Artie's, each with uniquely colored chairs. Lovino could easily make out the figures of Francis and Gilbert from where he was at this point, and he was only getting closer. There was another figure sitting at the table with them, a fellow with short, blond hair. Antonio stopped tugging on Lovino and let him walk for himself as they got closer.

"Aye, guys, what's up?" He shouted when they were at a reasonably close distance. He stopped in front of the table, Lovino in tow.

"Look who's finally up! Big night for ya last night, huh?" The question was directed at Lovino, and came from Gilbert's mouth. The German had lent his chair back, balancing it on two legs with his own legs crossed and resting on the top of the table.

_The biggest night of my life._ He shrugged, attempting to appear aloof.

"Whatever. I guess." He said the words as if the events of last night happened all of the time.

"So, what are you thinking of the outside world? Do you think it's awesome?" Lovino gazed around. The word 'awesome' didn't even do this place justice.

"Very impressive. It's really big and I like that. Definitely something I can get used to. I didn't expect it to be so hot though, _merda, _I don't really know what I was expecting."

"Would you listen to that accent, Gil? How captivating!" Francis sat across the table from Gilbert, his elbows rested on the surface and his chin sat supported by the backs of his hands.

The blond man next to him was the next to speak. "You'd say that to anything with a pulse, frog face. That boy looks nearly half your age."

Francis pretended to look insulted. "Now Arthur, I would never-! How could you think such a thing!" The Frenchman chuckled a very perverted laugh. "More importantly, how could you look at this boy and tell me that he is anything less than beautiful!"

"By being a decent human being. But I must admit, he _is_ one of the prettier things I've seen in quite some time..." Arthur raised his eyebrows as he spoke and gazed at Lovino. He wished everyone he encountered would stop talking about him like he was an object, something to be possessed. He sighed internally, accepting the fact the he was going to have to suck it up for now.

"Would you put a sock in it, you two?" Gilbert's voice definitely had an annoying ring about it as he spoke from the other side of the table. "This is Antonio's catch, in case you're forgetting. So you might wanna back off."

"_Honhonhon, mon ami, _Antonio does not mind, do you Toni?" He turned towards Antonio, who had placed his hands on the table to support himself.

"Actually," He thought about his words for a moment. "Gilbert's right. Don't you guys lay a hand on my Lovino."

Francis blinked in surprise. "You're not going to share?"

"Nope, this one's all mine," Antonio responded. Given the topic of discussion, Lovino didn't want to know what that meant for him. Furthermore, he didn't know whether to feel angered or relieved. He decided on relieved; if he was going to belong to anyone out here he would definitely choose Antonio. Romano blushed only a little at the thought, he hoped none of the men would notice.

Antonio clapped his hands together. "Well, now that that is said and established, I was thinking of teaching Lovi how to shoot." Lovino snarled.

"I can shoot, _bastardo!"_

"Nah ah ah, Lovi, I saw the way you held that rifle of yours. You've never touched that thing in your life!"

How could this bastard possibly know that? Lovino just growled.

"So, if you're going to survive ten seconds on the wasteland, you're going to need to know your way around that weapon."

Gilbert spoke up. "Make it quick, Antonio. We don't got the time to be dicking around in Radwater. I still have talk to _mein bruder _about the vault dwellers, then we gotta scram. You know how it is." What did he mean by scram? Were they going to leave Radwater so soon? How far from the vault was he going to travel? Lovino almost felt a little sick. He wasn't about to crawl back into his vault, so he sucked it up and did what he was told, for now.

Francis sighed. "I wish we didn't have to be so in-and-out all the time..."

The Spaniard cut him off. "Don't we all?"

"Well, _I, _on the other hand, will be thrilled when froggy here is out of my town for another month or three."

_A month or three? Oh boy._ One thing Lovino wondered about Arthur was why he didn't seem to like Francis, but still sat next to him like they were casual friends. If Lovino was given a choice, he wouldn't touch Francis with a ten-foot pole, but that was just his personal opinion of the snobbish Frenchman.

Gilbert rolled his eyes before commenting as well. "You know, I hear these words coming out of your mouth, Artie, but all I'm seeing is a load of bullshit." Arthur punched him in the shoulder. Gilbert only laughed.

Lovino had to say that he didn't care for either of these creeps. But what else was he going to do? If he was going to stay with Antonio, he was going to have to learn to put up with their antics.

"So how long do you think we can stay? I don't want Lovi getting killed out there... We need to take the time to teach him a few things," Antonio remarked.

"Correction _you _are going to teach him a few things, _we _don't have time for that. And we can stay..." Gilbert paused to think. "A couple of days, tops. We need to be out of here by the end of the week."

"_Oui!_ I agree! We do not want soldiers to show up looking for us, do we?"

_What does he mean by soldiers?_ Lovino felt anxious. He didn't realize that he could get them in trouble if anyone found out about him leaving the vault.

"And _garçon,_"Francis turned to Lovino. "you are going to have to lose the bright blue jumpsuit. I'm sure Arthur can accept some sort of trade?" He looked at Arthur with an expectant look on his face. The blond man looked back at him for a few seconds with his eyebrows furrowed before finally agreeing.

"Fine," he sighed, "I'll see what kind of gear I can scrape up. But it will cost you."

Antonio replied with a question. "What kind of payment will you accept? I'm afraid he hasn't got any caps, _amigo._"

Arthur thought for a moment, leaning forward and putting his elbows on the table. "Well, I'm having a bit of a problem with the frogs living under and around the dock. Those little wankers are getting braver and braver by the day, if you ask me. They're going to start killing people if we don't take care of them soon."

"_Fantástico!_ That gives Lovi something to practice his shooting on!" The thought of deadly frogs made Lovino a little uneasy.

"Right. Well when you get back, I'll have some gear waiting for him. Do we have a deal?"

"_Sí, sí!_ Come on Lovi, let's go kill something!" Antonio grabbed his arm and pulled him towards the river. Lovino had the feeling that was going to have to get used to being pulled around like this.

"Right now?!"

"_Sí!_ It is nearly midday already, you slept all morning, remember? You have much to learn, _muchacho,_ and so little time!" Luckily, Radwater was situated right on the bank of the river, so it was just a short walk on Lovino's sore legs. They stopped at the riverbank, the river very low, so much of the sandy riverbed was exposed on either side of the wide river. The bank was about a five foot drop, which Antonio cleared without thinking twice. Lovino hesitated before lowering himself to sit on the edge of the bank. He pushed over the edge and braced for the impact. He winced as his sore legs hit the dry, cracking sand below.

Lovino looked downriver. A moderately sized dock protruded out over the river not too far from where they stood, it was long enough to still be over the water despite the river's shallow current. It docked a single tiny boat, but it looked like it could easily sustain more than one. Antonio led him downriver towards the dock, and when they were at a reasonable distance, he stopped.

"Get your rifle, Lovi, you see those?" Antonio pointed at a group of three large, grey boulders. Lovino had no idea what he was referring to, until he saw one boulder produce a huge bubble from its throat and let out a croak. Then he saw another. The massive toads sat perfectly camouflaged on the riverbed, and Lovino thought that he might not have noticed them if Antonio hadn't pointed them out. He nodded, drawing his rifle from where he had it situated on his back.

"Take aim, but don't shoot yet." Lovino brought his rifle up to his shoulder, clicking off the safety, and it was still loaded from last night. He focused the tip of the barrel on one of the massive amphibians. He could feel Antonio's eyes studying him.

"Raise that elbow a little, _chico_, do you wanna hit that thing or not?" Lovino did what he was told.

"Okay, are you ready to fire?" Lovino nodded. "Go for it."

Lovino hesitated, took a deep breath, and pulled the trigger. The bang shot through the air and Lovino stumbled back just a little. As far as he could tell, he hadn't hit anything. The frogs looked startled, but made no move to flee. Antonio's eyebrows furrowed.

Antonio grabbed a bullet from his little pouch and loaded it into the rifle as quickly as he could. "Try it like this," Antonio pushed Lovino's weapon into firing position and pulled the butt of the rifle into Lovino's shoulder. He put a hand over Lovino's where it gripped the forestock.

Lovino's entire body tensed at the contact. Antonio's hand felt warm against his skin and his breath felt hot against his face as Antonio wrapped his body around Lovi to help him aim his rifle. Antonio squinted his eyes down Lovino's sight. Lovino held his breath as the Spaniard spoke softly.

"Loosen up a little bit, Lovi! Your muscles are much too tense. Just relax, and maybe you'll actually hit the target this time," Lovino tried his hardest to relax his tensed muscles and repress his glowing blush. Antonio's voice came very softly against his ear. "Now, when you're about to shoot, instead of firing like a maniac, take a deep breath. Pick a point in that breath to pull the trigger, and remember it. Fire on the same point every time you shoot, okay?"

Antonio adjusted Lovino's weapon just slightly before pulling away. The places that had briefly touched against Antonio grew suddenly cold, and Lovino wished that Antonio hadn't pulled away so quickly.

"Now try shooting." Lovino gripped his gun tightly, trying to keep all of his muscles relaxed. He breathed in deeply, focusing the sight on his target. His breath spilled out of his lungs, and as it was about halfway out, he fired. Hit.

One of the three toads fell over dead, oozing blood out of its body. The other two turned towards him, hissing angrily.

"Be careful Lovi, don't move, they're poisonous and hostile. I don't think they will attack if we just stand here though..."

Lovino quickly reloaded. He was getting the hang of that. He brought the rifle back to position, repeating the process as swiftly as he dared. Halfway through his exhale he fired a shot. Another hit.

"Very good Lovi! You are a natural." Antonio's voice changed when he realizes that the remaining frog was heading their way, pushing off of the ground with its strong back legs. "Oh my god Lovino, load that gun."

Lovino slipped another bullet into the compartment and slid the bolt into place. He raised the gun and fired, sending the last frog to its death. Lovino smiled.

"Did you see that? Damn bastards never had a chance."

"_Sí _Lovi! _Felicitaciones!_ So you aren't a bad shot after all. Who would have known, coming from a vault and all." Lovino felt a little insulted.

"I'll have you know, I had to shoot radroaches all the time back in the vault, don't you treat me like such an underling, bastard. I'm not a child!"

"How old _are _you, Lovino?"

Lovino thought about lying, but then he realized he was taking too long to reply, so he spit out his age truthfully. "Seventeen."

Antonio lifted his eyebrows. "You're just a year older than Ludwig, did you know? Maybe you two could be friends!" Lovino never saw himself being friends with that big, blond teenager. Only a year older than him, huh? Suddenly Lovino wondered how old Antonio was. He asked the question before he could even think about it.

"How old are _you?_" Antonio took a second to reply, as if he couldn't quite remember.

"Ah, twenty-six, I think." Lovino's heart fell a little. He hadn't realized how much of an age gap they shared, and he wondered why he was so attracted to this adult. He shrugged the thought away, attempting to ignore this new nine-year barrier.

"Oh."

"You look surprised, Lovino! Why is that?" Lovino didn't know how to answer.

"We have a job to finish, don't we?" Lovino's excuse must have passed as valid, because the Spaniard dropped the topic.

"Oh, of course! Why don't we start looking for some more frogs to shoot at, yeah?"

Lovino replied with a nod, reluctant to share any more words right now. He didn't know what he was expecting Antonio's age to be, but it wasn't twenty-six, that's for sure. To be honest, he hadn't thought about it until then. He hoped that it wouldn't matter much, being so young against Antonio, and he started to wonder how far out of his league he was playing, leaving his vault like this. He quickly tried to change his train of thought, taking a look at his rifle. He tried to tell himself that his age didn't matter out on the wasteland, he hoped that if he was a good enough shot, no one would care that he was still a boy. He _prayed _that it wouldn't matter, at least. He definitely didn't want Antonio to treat him like a child forever, or a pet, or an object. He wanted Antonio to see him as something else, something more than a pretty little thing he scraped up in a hole somewhere.

"Don't be nervous, Lovi! Are you coming or not?" Lovino didn't realize that Antonio had started off in the direction of the dock. Of course he wasn't nervous, but he was not about to correct the eager Spaniard as he led the way downriver. Lovino just followed silently, keeping his eyes peeled for any frogs and his thoughts away from Antonio's smooth, sing-song voice as he padded along the riverside, his gun raised and ready to fire.

* * *

_A/N: Thank you for the couple of happy reviews I've been getting! You guys' feedback means the world to me, so please continue to leave reviews!_


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

_"Do you remember those three idiots from last year? The ones who wanted into that vault?"_

_"Tch, vaguely. What of it?"_

_"Well from what I've gathered, they went in again just the other day."_

_"Is that so?" The strange man sat in a large, comfortable chair. He traced his fingers in circles on the arm of the chair out of boredom. "Why do I care? If they want the Enclave on their asses, then who am I to hold them back?"_

_"Well, you see, I think they've got someone with them, had that vault suit."_

_Now his eyebrows shot up, and he looked away from the arm of the chair to meet the eyes of his informant. _

_"You mean they've taken a vault-dweller out of there? These guys are even dumber than I thought. Oh well, that sounds like more caps in my pocket. Do you even know how much I can get for a little vault-dweller out here? Those things are collectibles"_

_"Yeah, that's why I'm here, boss. I thought ya might be interested."_

_"Heck yeah I am interested. So, gimme the deets. How does it look?"_

_"From what I hear, it's quite the looker. Young, too, but talks a lot. We can fix that in a heartbeat, though."_

_"It sounds like a good investment to me. Do you want to round up your team and go get 'em?" It was more of an order than a question, and the informant had been down this road enough times to know that by now. He grinned._

_"Yeah, whatever you say, boss. It's all the way down in Radwater, so it'll take a few days. But you can count on me and my boys to get the job done."_

_"Good. So what are you waiting for? They'll be gone if you don't hurry. Go!"_

_The informant grinned and turned around without another word, and he headed out through the double doors of the large building. As much as he hated taking orders from that man, the pay was good for such a simple job. He was going to round up his misfit friends and head down to Radwater to collect that vault-dweller. An easy job, he thought, and for such good pay. But he had to hurry, it wouldn't be long before those idiot raiders had left that tiny town and the vault-dweller would be lost to them. He broke into a brisk pace, heading for the shabby saloon where he knew his team would be drinking._

* * *

Lovino sat alone on the hard, dry ground. He leaned back against the long-dead log behind him, tilting his head skyward to gaze at the couple of stars that had started to appear. The air was growing cool with the night that engulfed the riverside town, and Lovino felt amazing relief from the hot summer sun. He had shed his leather padding that Arthur had fit him with, and the feeling of it pressed against his body was finally gone. Where the leather was, his skin would burn the hottest in the summer heat, deeming the armor highly unpleasant. However, Antonio would rarely let him take it off unless he was sure there was no local threat to be wary of. This, after much persuasion, was one of those times.

Lovino watched the bonfire in front of him burn brightly, it illuminated the nearby area while the darkness shrouded nearly everything else. The tall flames danced wildly to the music that played over the radio. Lovino couldn't feel the heat of the fire from the distance he was sitting, but he could certainly hear the voices of the three nutjobs that sang loudly to the sounds from the radio. He watched Antonio, Gilbert, and Francis sing song after song, he saw Arthur contemplate joining them for a few, and he saw grandpa Beilschmidt sitting quietly on the other side of the bonfire cleaning a weapon of some sort. It was a gun, the likes of which Lovino had never seen, and was large and very deadly-looking. He and Lovino had not said a word to each other since Lovino had crawled out of his vault four days ago, and he liked to keep it like that for now. Maybe forever, if possible.

However, his relationship with Gilbert's grandfather was probably _literally_ the least of his concerns. His head rested against the thick, dry wood of the log and he let his eyes close. He silently recapped on the events of the last four days, the unreal memories played over in his mind as he realized that the days that he had spent outside of the vault were the longest days of his life. He had gotten more done before noon than he would normally have completed in a week's worth of work down in the vault. All of this moving around was exhausting, but even after only a few days, Lovino's muscles were beginning to adjust to the sudden strenuous labor that he put them through. His legs still ached, but the screaming agony he had endured only two days ago had quieted to a manageable level. Lovino might go as far as to say that they were chatting with each other with a somewhat appropriate tone of voice. In other words, he wasn't having any problems walking anymore.

Antonio had been showing him the way of the wasteland, which didn't entail as many serious skills or situations as Lovino had initially anticipated. They spent most of their time goofing around with Antonio's friends, but Lovino figured that that was the only way he was going to learn anything. Even though Antonio treated the lessons with humor, he did tend to make them educational, as silly as most of it was. Lovino had learned many things, from keeping silent while walking to preparing food out on the wasteland. He learned to observe the land around him, and to heed any and all hints that his life may be in danger. He learned about proper weapon maintenance, and that he was never, under any circumstances, allowed to be without his rifle. He was to carry it at all times, even if he was just heading into Radwater. Out of all of the rules laid before him by the Spaniard, Lovino found this one to be the most tedious and pointless. Not once had he ever needed his weapon in the last few days, but he decided that it was better to mind Antonio's few rules. They weren't many, and most seemed exceedingly useless and dumb. Some had made sense, such as "watch your mouth around strangers; most around here won't take kindly to that vocabulary of yours, Lovi." Lovino could hear the Spaniard's voice as he repeated the rule every time they were in vicinity of someone unfamiliar. But the majority of the rules seemed like nonsense to Lovino, despite Antonio's constant reassurances that every rule was important. "Gilbert doesn't mix well with classical music, try not to bring it up." was one of the strange rules that stood out in Lovino's mind. What was that even supposed to mean? He found himself shaking his head.

He was so lost in his thoughts over the recent events that he didn't even notice when Antonio sat down on the log above his head. He jumped at the sound of his voice.

"Lovi, what did I tell you about being aware of your surroundings? Are my lessons not teaching you anything, _cariño?_" Lovino wasn't entirely sure what that last word meant, but he had an idea, and he didn't like it. Especially the way the Spaniard said it so easily. Lovino tried to tell himself that the Spaniard's strange terms of affection didn't make him melt into the dead tree behind him.

In between the swooning, he found time to roll his eyes. "I knew you were there, I just didn't say anything," he lied. He knew his sarcastic eye-roll would probably be lost in the dark, but it was fueled by habit over the desire to mock the Spaniard.

"Well, then why did you jump when I said something?" Lovino couldn't help but blush, and this time he was glad that it was dark enough outside to go unnoticed by the older man. The flames from the nearby fire had already tinted his face with an orange glow, so flushed cheeks would hopefully blend in. Lovino fumbled for an answer.

"I just... I wasn't expecting to hear your voice, Spaniard! It caught me a little off guard, but I still knew you were there." It wasn't a complete lie.

"Never let your guard down, Lovino. Because the second you give your enemy a moment to attack," Antonio moved like lightning, and before Lovino could react, the Spaniard had moved from one side of Lovi to the other. His knife had been drawn from its sheath as he darted over the log behind Lovino, and now he could feel the cold metal blade pressed against the soft skin of his neck. He squeaked out an embarrassing sound. "could be the last second you ever see."

Lovino's eyes widened considerably and his breath came in shallow puffs. He didn't dare move for fear of the blade cutting into his neck.

"But you're not my enemy, b-bastard." He gritted his teeth. The smooth metal blade felt dangerous pressed into his neck, and Antonio's breath felt hot against his ear as he whispered his warning. An unfamiliar feeling shot through his body that made him somewhat disappointed as Antonio's knife pulled away from his throat. He watched Antonio's movements carefully as he resheathed his knife.

"Not today, _amigo,_ but one day you will have people who would like to see you dead, especially if you stick with us. It's amazing how much someone will fight for what is theirs out here, and don't really take too kindly to raiders trying to steal precious food. Well, I say raiders... I hate the word, honestly." Antonio sat down as he spoke, lowering himself to the ground instead of perching above Lovino on the log. He leaned his head back on the log, putting his hands behind his head to protect it from the rough feel of the wood.

"Raiders are merciless, Lovino. They kill for what they want. I like to think that we aren't like that." Lovino looked over at the other man, curiosity ignited in his eyes.

"So you never kill anyone when you steal?" Antonio shook his head.

"We try our best. Sometimes a death cannot be helped... We _do_ value our own lives over the lives of the strangers we... borrow... From." He paused, thinking back. "And Gilbert tends to be a little trigger-happy sometimes, but don't tell anyone." He chuckled out the last sentence.

Lovino stared at him for a moment. He was glad that he wasn't going to be traveling with ruthless killers, that's certain. But so many questions burned in his mind, questions that he hasn't had the opportunity to ask. One inquiry flared above the others.

Lovino spoke slowly and carefully. "When you go on raids... Do you ever take more than food? Do you ever take people? I mean, from the way you talk about me..." Lovino sort of trailed off as he spoke, realizing how silly he must sound. He hoped the Spaniard had understood what he was asking, though.

Antonio's eyebrows knitted and his lips curled into a frown. He rolled his head over to Lovino, gazing at him with uncertainty.

"Lovi..." He thought before he dared to tread further. Lovino could tell that Antonio didn't quite know how to go about answering his question. His heart sank.

"I see. Say no more, Antonio." Lovino averted his look from Antonio's dancing green eyes. He stared down at the ground, trying not to think about things they might have done to unwilling people of his own age. It was only natural, he tried to tell himself, these were raiders after all. He should have expected as much, but for some reason he was still a little shocked. He should have known that he was probably no different from any other boy or girl that they deemed pretty enough to take.

"No! Lovi, it's not that bad, see? I know it sounds really bad.. Oh goodness... Well," he sighed, "I think you will understand one day." Lovino didn't really want to understand.

"So, am I no different from _those _people?" Lovino hadn't meant to utter the question aloud.

"What!? Of course you're different! You came with us all on your own, and we haven't even touched you!" Lovino looked at Antonio with a disgusted expression. All on his own? That just confirmed his suspicions that Antonio would take people against their will. Lovino got up from the ground. "Okay, I think that came out a little wrong. Lovino, where are you going?"

"For a walk," he muttered over his shoulder, gripping the rifle that was leaning against the end of the thick log.

"Lovi it's not really like that! I mean... I never.. It's usually just Francis and Gilbert! I've never really been that interested, you see? That's why Gilbert's making such a big fuss about you, it's because I never take anyone for myself!" Antonio certainly was not helping his case. The more he opened his mouth, the more Lovi wanted to snap rude words at this man. Instead, he just kept walking. Behind him he could hear Gilbert and Francis walk up to where Antonio sat on the ground, confused and shocked.

"What's his problem?" came Gilbert's obnoxious tone.

"I think I may have offended him," Antonio answered.

Francis spoke up, and Lovino could imagine the blond man flipping his long hair with one hand as he spoke in his continually dramatic tone. "He is definitely a tough one, _ami,_ this is true."

"You sure know how to pick 'em." Gilbert's voice sounded sarcastic as it faded the farther Lovino walked. Lovino could still feel Antonio's stare on his back and he thought he heard a sigh as he clicked the radio of his pip-boy to the only station that broadcasted in this area. He hoped to forget about the Spaniard's words as he listened to the cracking music that would flow from the shabby speakers on his wrist. It wasn't the worst quality, he thought, it was still better than some of the radios he had heard since he left the vault.

There was a large flat rock that overlooked the embankment that Lovino had come to enjoy in the last few days. He even fell asleep out on the rock last night, which turned out to be a big mistake the next morning when he was scolded by Antonio. The rock was massive by a rock's standards, and it jutted out just over the low tide of the water. Antonio said that this rock would be nearly submerged if the river wasn't so low, which sort of disappointed Lovino, in a way. He figured it wouldn't make much of a difference if they were leaving tomorrow anyways.

Yep, that was the plan. They were heading for the big city tomorrow afternoon, which would mean that they would make it there just before nightfall if all went as planned. Sticking to the roads and keeping to themselves would probably get them there safely, but traveling across the wasteland was always a risk. Lovino hoped that the party wouldn't run into much trouble as he sat down on the flat rock, his feet dangling over the edge but not quite reaching the flowing water. He watched for a while as the current lapped leisurely at the edge of the bank and the bright moon overhead gleamed with a growing intensity as Lovino's eyes began to adjust to the fireless atmosphere. Cracking music sounded over his small radio and a sense of peace washed over him. He felt happy. He forgot about the heat of the sun, he forgot about the dangerous land. He forgot about the dull life he had recently escaped, and most importantly of all, he forgot the massive weight on his shoulders placed there by this infatuation he held for Antonio. He had never been more confused in his life over a single man; he couldn't tell if Antonio was being flirtatious when he gave Lovino _that_ look, or if the passionate Spaniard was just being himself. He didn't know what to think when Antonio would address him with words that he did not understand, words he knew to be terms that you would call your lover. He racked his brain trying to understand the unfamiliar confusion that had settled into Lovino's mind. It was all just a single question that was killing him slowly: _Am I more to Antonio than just a pet? _He desperately hoped he was. If he wasn't, well...

He forgot about that. Now he was at peace, listening to the sound of the crickets and the frogs and the noise emitting from the contraption on his wrist. He completely lost himself in the sound of the gentle current pushing around rocks.

"I swear, you aren't learning anything from me, _querido_."

Reality slammed into Lovino at the unexpected Spanish accent coming from beside him. He nearly fell off of the rock when his head swiveled around to meet Antonio's worried green eyes beside him. He had managed to sit down on the rock right next to Lovino without him noticing. Sneaky bastard. After getting over the initial heart attack he had been given, he cursed himself for getting so into the atmosphere. Why couldn't he do anything right? All he wanted was to show Antonio that he would be well off on his own, but he couldn't even sit alone right. Then he remembered to be angry at this bastard.

"Will you shut your face! No one is going to come out in the middle of nowhere to kill me!"

Antonio sighed. "That's not the point, Lovi. The point is that you need to be aware at all times, regardless of whether or not you think anyone is around. What if you get attacked by an animal, huh? Or kidnapped? I don't know if you know this, but you'd be worth quite a bit out here. A pretty face like yours is hard to come by."

Behind the wall of anger, Lovino couldn't help but think that Antonio was lying to him. Lovino could see a pretty face staring right back at him. He growled in acceptance of his mistake and fell back against the stone. He lay there quietly in the Spaniard's presence for a few moments.

"Why did you follow me?" He asked, the anger had fled his voice. "I think I'm supposed to be mad at you right now."

Antonio ignored the question, and fell back against the rock to join Lovino, sighing as he did so and letting the silence linger a few moments more. He seemed to think carefully about his words before he spoke them.

"You know, I was seventeen when I left my home as well." Lovino had to admit that he didn't see that one coming.

"Really?" He questioned, glad that Antonio had once been in the same boat that Lovino was in now. Lovino was slightly relieved, he was beginning to think that he was too young to be leaving his vault, but maybe he wasn't.

"Yeah, well, it wasn't really much of a home. We traveled a lot, and there were twelve of us when I left. People would come and go, people would die, so is life. But for the most part, we stuck together, like a family."

Lovino kept his eyes fixed on the starry sky. "Why did you leave?"

Antonio sighed a breath. "I guess... for the same reason you left your own home. I met this crazy German, and well, he made me realize exactly how much there was to the world."

As Antonio talked, Lovino heard his chuckle, heard the blatant nostalgia that echoed in his words. He suddenly wondered about the Spaniard's history, and desperately wanted to know more.

"He showed me adventure and adrenaline, and we had much fun that day. That day that we met. And I just had to know that feeling all the time... so when he offered to let me travel with him, I couldn't refuse."

"So you left your family for a complete stranger? That sounds a little familiar." Lovino realized that he and Antonio had a lot more in common than he had originally thought. Not only had he left the only life he'd ever known, but he did so with someone that he had just barely met. Lovino figured that he might be the only other person who could relate to Antonio's story, in a way.

"_Sì, _indeed it does. Of course, I'll never see _my _family again, unlike you, _amigo._ They would be long gone now, in faraway lands selling goods or something boring like that. I'm glad I left though, as much as I loved them, leaving with Gilbert was one of the best decisions of my life. For a spur of the moment choice, it turned out to be one of the most amazing things I've ever done, and maybe the most stupid."

Lovino felt a little heartbroken by Antonio's past. Lovino never agreed with his grandfather or his annoying brother, but he didn't know if he would be able to abandon them forever.

"How could you do that? How could you leave them knowing that you would never see them again?" Lovino's eyes remained pointed skyward as he thought on Antonio's words. He thought about never seeing little Feli again, and a lump formed in his throat. He pushed the lump back down, refusing to get this sentimental. This was silly. Of course he would see Feliciano again, he knew where his little brother was, and that was safely in the vault. Unlike Antonio's family, whose whereabouts are unknown.

Antonio shrugged. "Meh, what is life without a couple of risks? If we are going to live in this broken world, then we might as well _live,_ yeah? We don't have much time on this world, so I want to make the best of it." Lovino understood. Lovino understood that statement more than anything.

"But... but how did you know that going with Gilbert would turn out to be a good idea?" Lovino knew the answer, of course he knew the answer. But he had to ask anyways.

"I didn't! But it turned out to be for the best, didn't it? Sometimes you just have to take the big risks in life, even if they don't turn out the way you had hoped. I could very well have made a terrible decision, joining Gilbert, but you can ask Francis about that one, I'm sure he'd be willing to share a tale or two of his own."

Lovino's curiosity for the Frenchman sparked suddenly, and he wondered what that was supposed to mean exactly. What kind of life-altering decision had Francis been forced to make, and had chosen poorly? He figured that he would never know; he found Francis to be a little scary, being completely honest with himself.

As for himself, Lovino couldn't tell if the decision he had made was a good one. For him it didn't matter as much. If he missed his family, he could stroll on back to the vault, crawl inside, and hide in there for the rest of his life. Antonio didn't even have that simple luxury. He must be a very brave man, Lovino thought.

They sat in relative silence for a while as Lovino elaborated on his thoughts. The sound of the music flowing from his radio and the liveliness of the nocturnal wildlife echoed around them as they lay against the stone. Lovino kicked his legs gently through the air where they dangled over the edge of the massive rock, his hands sat restlessly on his chest.

A light, swaying tune fell around them as the radio started playing a different song. Lovino could see Antonio's head roll toward him out of the corner of his eye. The Spaniard had immediately recognized the fluctuating rhythm of the light-hearted piano keys.

"Hey, I love this song!" Lovino let his head roll to the side and his eyes met Antonio's bright green ones. He scrunched his mouth to one side of his face questioningly. It took him a moment to recognize the song that played over his radio, but when it registered, his expression conveyed even more question. This sappy love song didn't seem to fit this fiery raider's personality one bit. The tempo was slow and smooth, but the singer did have a certain passion to his words that Lovino could see dancing in Antonio's emerald eyes as the music sounded around them. Lovino actually listened to the lyrics for the first time, despite having heard this song numerous times over the last few days.

_Love me, as though there were no tomorrow_

_Take me out of this world tonight_

"Really? You like this song?" Romano had to admit, it wasn't bad for a cheesy love song.

Antonio nodded. "_Sí!_ Do you not like it, Lovi?"

Lovino waited for a few seconds, listening to the soft male voice drift from the small speakers of his radio.

_Take me, make me forget my sorrow_

_So when I wake tomorrow, I'll know our love was right.._

"It's ok, I guess. Nothing special. Don't you think it's a bit... sappy?"

Antonio looked a bit disappointed. "Lovi, I think you will understand one day." He turned his head back to the stars, and Lovino did the same. Antonio dropped the topic. "Tomorrow, before we leave, Francis, Gilbert, and me are going to go out for a bit. Are you going to be okay while we're gone?"

"Is that what you followed me out here to ask?" Lovino was slightly disappointed for reasons he didn't understand, and even more so confused by the Spaniard's words. What did he mean by that?

"Partly, yes. Well, will you?"

"Of course. What do you take me for, a child?" Lovino found himself hoping once again that Antonio wouldn't decide that Lovino was indeed a small child.

"No, no... quite the opposite." Antonio stopped talking right there.

_What._

Lovino just listened to the flowing sound of the song that was playing.

_kiss me, as though it were now or never_

Silence settled between the two of them as they gazed up at the stars. The lyrics bounced around in Lovino's head as he thought of the older man that lay beside him. Antonio was only a few inches away from him, if he wanted to, he could reach out and touch him...

_Teach me, all that our hearts should know_

The words coming from the radio still swung to and fro in his mind, somewhat meaninglessly as he concentrated on the Spaniard that was so close to him that he could nearly feel the heat radiating from his body in the cool night air...

He was surprised when Antonio sang out the next verse of the song.

"Love me, as though there were no tomorrow. Oh my darling, love me, Don't ever let me go..."

Lovino froze every function that his body was performing. He stopped breathing, and his heart stopped beating as the Spaniard's smooth voice sent understanding coursing into his body. Antonio's voice was soft yet powerful, he sang the words as if he meant every syllable that left his lips. Every beautiful note was fueled by passion as his voice cut through the silence between them, and Lovino understood what the other man had been trying to tell him this whole time.

No, that was a silly thought. Antonio couldn't possibly mean the words that he sang. Lovino was simply getting his own feelings confused with reality. _My own feelings. _The slow tempo of the instrumental flowed around Lovino as his heart slowly started beating again. He listened to it with his eyes wide and directed at the endless abyss that was the night sky. The stars blurred away as he sunk into the scratchy sound, he let it's legato rhythm envelop him.

"Love me, as though there were no tomorrow. Oh my darling, love me," Antonio's head rolled back over onto its side. Lovino followed and brown eyes met green once again. Lovi could just make out the shape of Antonio's lips as they mouthed the last few words of the song.

_Don't ever let me go._

No. Antonio's soft voice gave away everything. His feelings were made certain right there on that rock as he mouthed the last few syllables of the song. Lovino's thoughts narrowed into this moment, into the last twinkling sounds of the song that he never wanted to end. He wanted this song to continue on forever as he looked on into Antonio's eyes, laying here under the moonlight on his favorite rock with his favorite person. The entire scenario seemed to be unreal as Lovi listened to the sound of his radio fade out. The only sound that he could hear now was the pounding of the blood in his ears. His lips fell apart as he gazed back at the Spaniard, sifting through the flickering emotions that were blatant in his eyes.

Lovino felt the words of the song weighing him down now. _Love me as though there were no tomorrow. _That was it. There very well could be no tomorrow, and they both knew that. Lovino shook that thought away. He had just started this new life out of the vault, and Antonio would be there to protect him all the time. He had nothing to worry about. Still, anxiety pricked at him through the very few emotions he was feeling right now, it throbbed in his core as if it were the only constant in his shifting life right now. It was layered beneath an indescribable feeling that shone brightly beneath his skin, dawning over his body and shedding light where there was none before. It filled his body completely, and forced any of the anxiety to retreat deep within him for the time being. It raced through his limbs and even extended into his fingers, and the fluffy feeling took him over as he gazed into his Spaniard's eyes. He wanted to stay this way forever.

Lovino's world could have ended right there, and he would never have noticed. Neither one of them spoke as the lay there on that rock, and after a while Lovino found out that he was sitting up. He wondered when that had happened, but brushed it off as unimportant as he noticed that Antonio was leaning closer to him. Every heartbeat that pounded in his chest and every shallow breath he took was building into this moment, Antonio was so close now. Just a little bit closer...

"Would you look at what I've found, Francis. A pair of Lovebirds!" Gilbert's voice crashed into the moment like a derailed train. Lovino's head jolted to the source of the sound to see Gilbert standing triumphantly at the edge of the stone overhang. He was accompanied by a facetious looking Frenchman who snickered like a schoolgirl next to him. Antonio clenched his eyes closed and let out a hum of frustration. Lovino scrambled backwards, thankful for the darkness that hid his spreading blush.

"Toni and Lovi sittin' in a tree~" he sang.

"Gilbert, don't you dare." Antonio said the words as if he was actually frustrated with his friends' antics.

"K"

"Gilbert."

"I"

"Gilbert no."

"S"

"Gilbert, I swear to god."

"S"

"Gilbert I'm going to hit you."

"I-N-G"

"Oh my god, Gilbert I can't believe you."

At this point, Francis burst into laughter. "Ahh, _l'amour._" He looked as though he was trying his hardest to contain his laughter.

Antonio's lip twitched up. "I'm serious, you two."

"Tweet tweet tweet! _Kesese!_"

Lovino's eyes flew back and forth between the three raiders. He felt like Francis and Gilbert were laughing at him; he wanted to melt away into the stone beneath him, to escape from the embarrassment that was creeping over his body. He and Antonio had almost kissed; he knew it was too good to be true. Lovino raised himself from the ground, clicking off the radio on his wrist with a swift flick. He picked his rifle from the stone as he stood.

"Lovi? Don't listen to them, they are only messing around." Lovino frowned at Antonio's words.

"Yeah, I know," he scoffed, blushing and embarrassed. How could he think that he and Antonio could ever work anyways? Between Antonio's friends and their ridiculous age gap, Lovino wondered how he had ever thought that he could actually have this Spaniard to himself. He wanted to run away, but instead, he kept calm and walked away from the situation with a false amount of dignity. He figured that he was pulling off a calm composure somewhat believably.

"But it's getting late." He looked to the sky and noticed that moon was nearly directly overhead. "I think I'm going to get some sleep."

Antonio looked a little bit sympathetic from where he sat on the rock, his legs still dangling over the edge. "_Sí, _I guess it is. Lovi, I'll catch up with you later, yeah? I'm going to have a word or two with Gilbert and Francis here." He gave his two friends a glare as Lovino started walking away, stepping off of the rock and padding in the direction of the little hovel.

He didn't realize just how tired he was until he was on his way back to the house. His limbs felt tired as they swung against his sides, and his legs felt like lead as he trudged the short distance to the house. He could no longer hear the voices of the three friends bickering behind him, but upon turning around, he did notice the fire blazing high in the distance.

When he made it through the doorway, he stumbled over to the couch and collapsed onto its cushions. Lovino didn't move once he was down, he just let his eyes close and he lay there for a few seconds. He attempted to reopen his eyes, reluctant to succumb to sleep before Antonio could return. He tried staying alert and awake, but to no avail. Just before he truly lost consciousness, however, he heard he soft, sing-song voice on the edge of his awareness.

"Sleep well, _mi corazón._"

And with that, a peaceful sleep overtook him.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Looking back on his hectic morning, Antonio found it a tad short of a miracle that the three raiders had made it out of the house without waking Lovino. When he got back from this little scouting excursion, he reminded himself that would have to warn Lovino against sleeping so heavily. He took a deep breath of the sharp morning air, his arms swung freely at his sides and his rifle was strapped to his back. He carried an arrangement of small, leather satchels looped around his belt as his feet tread over the short patch of grass. The blades were wet from the morning dew, and they stuck to Antonio's softly padded boots as he strode over the patch.

The feel of the grass beneath his feet never really got old to Antonio. The tiny patches were a relatively new development; after a lifetime of sickly irradiated water, purification plants started popping up along all of the major waterways a few years back. Clean water now flowed through most of the country, inspiring new plant growth that had previously been impossible due to the malnourishment of the cruel land. They keep saying that it's only going to get even better from here as the new plant life adapts to the harsh land, and that eventually, patches of the brightly colored grass will sprout up all over, and the rolling hills around Radwater will look exactly like the pictures on the occasional ramshackle billboard.

Antonio stayed a few feet behind his other two friends as they argued over trivial matters, as was the norm. He started kicking a rock with his feet as he stepped back onto the broken asphalt of the ancient road leading out of town. He couldn't stop thinking about last night, but he couldn't be angry at Francis or Gilbert. After all, this was the kind of thing they did to each other all the time. Antonio found himself shaking his head. _You can be patient, Antonio. _

The small rock skidded across the pavement each time his foot knocked it forward. It was a pleasant distraction from the complicated thoughts that he was pushing to the back of his mind. He let himself listen to Francis' and Gilbert's heating argument instead.

"Are you kidding me? There's no way you took one down by yourself. I'm declaring some major bullshit on this."

"Ah, but that is where you are wrong, _mon ami!_"

"I mean, _I _could take down a deathclaw without a problem, heck, I could take down, like, three. But you? No way!"

Antonio laughed under his breath at the bickering friends. His rock rolled off of the road after an unceremonious kick in the wrong direction. Antonio frowned. Oh well, it wasn't worth stopping for, so he just kept walking. Maybe he would find another stone, but until then, he let his thought wonder back to last night, back to Lovino. The Spaniard wondered why he hadn't done it; they were so close that he could feel the shallow breaths puffing from Lovino's slightly parted lips. He remembered how those lips had glistened in the moonlight and how the music played just in time with the moment, why hadn't he just gone for it? Why hadn't he just taken Lovino like he desperately wanted to yet? He didn't _need _Lovino to agree with the situation; he'd done it before and he could do it again. But something about that though made Antonio suddenly sick to his stomach. He didn't want to force Lovino into loving him. Some part of him wanted Lovino to seek him out on his own, to want it, to _beg _for it, if Antonio was lucky. But unfortunately, luck didn't seem to be on his side last night when his demented friends showed up to stop them.

"What do you mean I couldn't?! You be seen me take down far huger monsters than a little bitty deathclaw. Those overgrown iguanas aren't even worth my superior skills anymore."

"Oh Gil, what could possibly be more of a challenge than a deathclaw?"

"Uh, behemoths? Duh."

"You've never taken down a behemoth!"

"I totally have! Remember that time we tried to take that "shortcut" to Birmingham and we stopped at that really suspicious bar and that weirdo freaky-guy said he'd give us like, a hundred caps to kill that behemoth?"

Francis cringed visibly. "_Oui,_ I happen to remember that day in astonishing detail. I think I also remember you shouting insults at the beast until it started to chase after you, and then you proceeded to turn tail and run like a small child while Antonio and I covered your useless hide."

Antonio also remembered that day fairly well. It had not been pretty, and all they did was waste bullets on that behemoth. But hell if it wasn't hilarious watching Gilbert scream like a girl.

Gilbert drew one hand to his chest dramatically. "Why Francis, that never happened!" He cried mockingly. "You saw how brave and awesome I was when I took down that totally huge monster. I saw you see me, Francy-pants, I watched you watch me as I showed that mutated shit face who was boss. Isn't that right, Antonio?" Gilbert turned his head around to Antonio as he mentioned his name.

"Hey, don't bring _me _into this, Gil."

"Just tell me I'm right and loud-mouth Frenchie is so wrong."

Antonio looked from Francis' condescending eyes and back to Gilbert's confident expression. "Uhh, _sí, _whatever you say, _amigo._"

Francis rolled his eyes. "_Foutaise._"

Antonio zoned out as the argument continued in front of him. He looked to his left to see the sun rising just above the horizon, and the sky was clearing from its blue morning fog. They should be heading back to Radwater soon, they had a long journey ahead of them and Antonio didn't want to waste energy walking farther than he needed to on a simple scouting mission. So far, nothing had turned up to impede their progress, and Antonio wasn't even sure why he had come along in the first place. Scouting is easily done with two men, and the Spaniard had originally considered staying back with Lovino while the other two did all of the walking. But when questioned about his motives, he had replied with the excuse that he "just needed some fresh air". It was accepted without further questioning, and Antonio was grateful that he didn't have to explain that it was because he didn't want to be around when Lovino awoke.

_Running away from your problems isn't going to get you anywhere, _he told himself as he strapped pouches onto his belt just a short time ago. Wait, problem? Since when had Lovino become one of his problems? Oh, right, it must have been when Antonio realized that Lovino meant a little bit more to him than the couple of pretty village boys he'd come across in his travels.

His thoughts were interrupted by a loud, German accent cutting though his awareness.

"Okay, we're going back. Why the hell are we doing this, anyways? What's the point of walking all the way out here, turning around, and doing it again? There's no way this could be any sort of important."

Antonio opened his mouth to answer, but Francis beat him to it. "Don't be foolish, Gil. Of course this is of upmost importance!"

"Oh really? Give me one good reason to have dragged myself out here at the crack of dawn, in the cold." Francis obviously couldn't think of an answer.

"It's not even cold, stop complaining." Muttered Antonio, unable to answer the question either. When he thought of why he had brought himself out into the unforgiving wasteland, all that would come to his mind was Lovino. Lovino, pretty little vault-dweller that had shown light into crevice of his heart that he didn't even know was dark. Now that he had experienced the angry Italian's glow, he was in no way ready to let that light extinguish. He would do whatever it took to protect his light, even if that _did _mean hauling himself out of sleep to patrol the dank wasteland, despite the protests of his friends.

He was never going to admit that to Gilbert and Francis, however, so he had no reason to keep them going.

"But fine, I get it. We can head back now, if you really want."

"Finally!" Gilbert shouted and sped forward, pushing past Antonio to lead the group back to town. Antonio and Francis followed.

The air was warming in the shine of the rising sun, and the dew was drying from the sparse blades of grass. Antonio inhaled the heavy air of the dawning noon atmosphere as they swiftly marched towards Radwater. Something was heavy in the air, something nice, something new, and his gut told him that today was going to be a good day.

However, Antonio had learned long ago not to trust his gut.

* * *

When Lovino was awoken by the soft sounds of morning chirping, Antonio and the others were gone. Of course, that was what he was expecting. He rubbed the palm of his hand into his forehead, clenching his eyes as he rubbed into them as well. His palm seemed to relieve a bit of the tension, so his aching head didn't throb as he hobbled to the small table on the other side of the room. As much as he wanted some coffee, he had no means of heating water that didn't require him to get up and move around excessively, which was something that he didn't want to do right now. So he compromised by simply sitting at the table with his arms crossed while he cast stares of longing at the container of instant coffee on the counter. Getting up this early wasn't preferable to the Italian, but the incessant chirping from the birds outside could easily do the job of any alarm clock that would sound at about this time back in the vault. Even now, awake at the crack of dawn, he still did not miss the vault life that he had recently left.

Sure, it had its pros, coffee, quiet nights, _warm _nights... With heat as smoldering as it was during the day, it was surprising how chilling the nights could be. But life in his vault also had some major cons, the biggest at this point being the extensive deficit of a certain Spaniard. At some point, Antonio had undeniably become the center of Lovino's world. Lovi didn't exactly know when, or why, or even how... All he could do was credit Antonio's annoying laugh, his dumb smile, his _perfect _laugh and his _breathtaking _smile...

Lovino shook his head, as if he could physically clear out the complicated thoughts and replace them with simple, productive ones. He was at a sort of loss, sitting at the table like he was. Lovino wasn't sure what to do with the time that the three adventures had left him with, besides sit and wait for the trio to return from their little outing. Despite having the opportunity to relax, Lovino's muscles felt restless. Throughout the week, he'd had very few chances to waste time. So doing so felt like, well... a waste of time. Lovino grunted out a soft chuckle, thinking back to his everyday vault life and realizing that _all _of it was a waste of time.

The longer the thought on it, the more restless he became. He stood up, making his chair scoot along the wooden floor. His hand reached to where his gun would normally be situated on his back, and when it wasn't, his stomach jolted slightly. He swiveled around, afraid that he may have lost it the night before when... _oh. _Memories of last night surfaced, and Lovino visibly winced. How embarrassing. He pushed the thoughts back as he spotted his rifle leaning against the arm of the couch, but the gnawing embarrassment never left his chest. He looked to the door and then back to the weapon.

_Do I really have to keep that thing strapped to my body at all hours of the day?_ He remembered Antonio scolding him each time he tried to go somewhere without his gun, and the thought of taking a morning stroll without it was looking better and better. Antonio wasn't there to treat him like a child, so why the hell not. Lovino decided that he was spending too much time thinking and less time moving. He padded out of the door and along the river without sparing a second thought for his shiny, black rifle.

Why he thought that going right to his rock was a good idea was beyond the Italian. Stopping at the base of it, he looked over the clear flat surface, and beyond that to the low, smooth current of the wide river. Before he could address the pangs of uneasiness that were washing over him, he heard the unfamiliar sound of tires screeching over rough gravel. Swiveling around on the ball of his foot, he planted his heel in the dirt and reached desperately at his rifle. Right, he had left the damn thing behind. The truck sped towards him, a dark green color as the tires wore out the meager road. It was only seconds before the truck halted just a few feet ahead of him, screeching into a sharp u-turn so that the bed of the truck faced Lovino. The dust that the truck had kicked up made Lovino cough, fear setting in when he realized that he was defenseless against these potentially dangerous new strangers.

Lovino spotted three blurry shapes in the bed of the truck with his wide, fearful eyes. A loud shout came from one of the shapes, but Lovino barely heard it through the confusion of the sudden truck. The shapes began to clear, and the first thing that Lovino noticed about the strangers was the determined smirk planted on the face of the one who had shouted. His eyes darted to the second shape, the tallest figure that stood in the bed of this strange truck. He was leaning against the wooden boards mounted on the edges of the truck's bed, and in his arms rested a massive metal contraption. Lovino only got a brief look of the man's intimidating poker face before blinding energy shot from the nose of the metal weapon he carried.

Lovino's focus on the world around him dulled as he was struck with the pure energy. His consciousness retreated to some crevice of his mind when the ground started spinning beneath his feet. Not just the ground was spinning; as he glanced around the bank of the river, the dead trees danced and the sky convexed and distorted. His head felt light and he began to float away, or was he falling? The spinning ground had made a reappearance startlingly close to his face and Lovino realized that he had hit the ground at some point. His head rolled to the convex sky and he was vaguely aware of the smirk on one of the stranger's faces that looked down at him. Voices echoed around him as sensations clawed at his skin, the feel of gravel on his back and metal slipping around his neck made him chuckle lightly. Hands hauled him to his feet as his world whizzed through his field of vision, and before he knew it, the rough hands had moved him into the bed of the truck. Was he moving? He couldn't tell. His vision narrowed and eventually blackened as the hard surface beneath his head roared loudly and strange accents bounced around above him. Everything faded as the effects of the energy blast began ebbing away, and unconsciousness overtook Lovino.

* * *

Lovino's awareness returned slowly, at first, all he knew was the roar of the truck's engine. A weight rested against his collarbones, cold and heavy around his neck. The feeling was uncomfortable and unfamiliar, and he attempted to reach up to feel the strange weight that plagued his limited awareness. He tried to lift his hand to his neck when he realized that his hands were bound together. His eyes cracked open as he brought both hands the collar that rested around his neck. The metal was thick and heavy and terrible. Lovino wanted it off.

His eyes widened all the way when he realized his exact predicament. It had happened so quickly, he barely had time to react. This is what Antonio had warned him against, what Antonio had been teaching him to avoid for nearly a week now. He should have known better, he should have taken that rifle with him, not that it would have made a difference against the one, two... three men that were stationed in the bed of the truck. Someone had to drive the truck, and someone would be seated in the passenger seat, if Lovino could see it from his position sitting on the floor of the truck. He counted five men total, if his assumptions were correct.

Two of the men on front of him were both tall and blond, each intimidating in their own ways. One stood in the truck bed, leaning against the wooden supports, a rifle thrown over his shoulder and a smirk on his face as he gazed out the back of the moving truck. His blond hair blew wildly in the chilling winds. Another man, his face somber and menacingly plain, sat against the side of the truck, his terrifying eyes on the third stranger.

This man, who was more of a boy, sat on the edge of the truck with his legs dangling over the edge. Lovino couldn't see his face, but he noticed that the boy had a metal collar around his neck not unlike his own. Lovino struggled against his bonds, accidentally grunting in pain when the rope's fibers burned again at his skin.

The man who stood just a few feet from Lovino looked over his shoulder at the sound of Lovino's grunts to see what he was getting into. Lovi paused immediately when his eyes met the stranger's playful ones.

"Look who's finally awake, guys!" The tall blond man shouted playfully, turning in the truck and separating himself from his wooden support. The other strangers turned their heads to face Lovino, the scary one barely looked interested, but the boy's eyes had lit up when they directed themselves at the captive Italian.

"The vault-dweller came to?" This voice was soft, and it floated out from inside the truck through the open space where the back windshield should be.

"I thought you never were going to be waking up! Hi, My name's Tino, but everyone calls me Finny. Or Fin. Or Finland. It's because of my accent, really, heh heh... What's your name?" The question came from the boy, who had pulled himself completely into the truck to assault Lovino with words.

He wrinkled his nose at the strange accents this bunch had, Finny's being the post peculiar so far.

"Hey Fin, don't get attached to that guy. You know what's going to happen."

"Oh let him do what he wants, Den. It'll be his fault that he's torn up after the vault-dweller gets shipped off." It was the soft voice from inside the truck again.

Questions raced through Lovino's head, but he forced himself to remain quiet. He forced himself not to think about where he was going or what the hell was going on. His blood pumped quickly through his veins and he felt like passing out. The collar around Finny's neck matched his own as far as he could tell, so he wondered how the boy could act so uppity. Was he in the same boat as Lovino? Surely he couldn't be.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Okay, so, here's the rundown, little vault-dweller. You're a slave now. You're property. Blah blah blah, I'm supposed to give you a speech about it but I'm not gonna because I've said it way too many times." Lovino's stomach flipped as the words sank in. A slave? His blood froze in place and his limbs stiffened when he was informed of his new occupation. He had to get out, he had to get away, he had to... Antonio! Antonio would save him, he was sure of it...

"Oh, and the collar, that one there, it'll explode if you try to escape ever." Well there went that. Lovino kept himself calm, fighting back tears as he cast his eyes towards the bonds around his wrists. He was surprisingly okay right now, as if he knew that the news wasn't real, that this was a dream. It had to be a dream. There was no other way, right?

Lovino knew better. Still, the situation held an unreal quality that made the information easy to accept. So his Antonio is gone again, after Lovino waited a year for him to return to his vault? Go figure.

"Any questions?"

Of course Lovino had questions. But he didn't feel like speaking. He didn't feel like anything, actually. In fact, the lack of feeling is probably what disturbed him the most. Where was the anger? Where was the fear? Lovino felt only a calming numbness as he sat in the bed of the truck, shaking his head in answer to the question that he had been asked.

"Good. And, between you and us, we're really sorry. Something's got to put food on the table, you know? Nothing personal."

Lovino just kept his eyes fixed on his bindings.

Throughout the bumpy, uncomfortable ride, Lovino didn't think about the "what ifs". What if this was the end of the line for him. What if the rest of his life was spent with a suffocating collar clasped around his neck, a constant reminder of his place. It rubbed painfully into his skin with every sharp turn of the head, always telling him that he had been reduced to the lowest part of the dysfunctional society of the wasteland. And most importantly: What if he never saw Antonio again? He didn't think about those things. He couldn't, as if he were not allowed to. He kept his eyes focused on a small pebble that bounced in the truck bed as it rumbled over the road as he listened to Tino's ongoing game of eye-spy with Berwald, the final man in the back of the truck.

"Eye-spy something... brown. And... big? I don't know, it is sort of big, compared to most things it's-"

"'T's th't rock ov'r there." He cut the boy off.

"Yep."

Berwald had guessed everything correctly so far, and Lovino could tell that Tino was getting a little bored with his little game.

"Are you two done yet? There's nothing out here but dead trees and dirt to spy, and it's getting a little annoying." Lovino knew that 'Denmark' couldn't be this man's real name, much like 'Finland' wasn't Tino's, but that's what they called him.

"Denmark, will you let that boy have some fun." It was the soft voice from inside the truck again.

"Hey! I'm not a boy, I'm not any younger than the rest of you guys!"

"You keep telling yourself that, Finny." This voice also came from inside the truck, but it wasn't the same soft one as before.

"Meester Berwald," Tino whined, "tell them I'm not a boy."

"Y' look l'ke a boy t' me."

"You know what I mean!"

Wastelanders were so weird. Lovino furrowed his eyebrows together. He couldn't believe he had been kidnapped by this group of fools. How? He couldn't quite remember. He thought of what he could, he remembered standing by his rock, looking over the river and hearing the roar of the truck's engine. Then... then what? He woke up in binds. What had they done to him? How long had he been out? What was _with _these accents? The questions didn't end, and anger and fear wisped around his mind, mingling together the longer he spent in the truck with these idiots.

Not to mention that the ropes around his wrists were burning his skin with every bounce of the truck. With each wince of pain, he regretted struggling with the ropes more and more. His skin had worn raw and red, and it wouldn't be long before he had to deal with blood.

"Hey!" He regretted the interjection the moment it came out of his mouth. Swallowing, he forced himself to continue as three heads turned his way. "Can one of you _cretini _cut these ropes off?" He held his arms out to display his worn wrists.

Denmark and Tino looked at him with confusion, while Berwald maintained a straight face.

"Did ya hear that, Nor?"

"Yeah," Came the reply, but that was it.

Denmark shrugged, pulling the jagged knife from his belt and kneeling down to Lovino's level. He slid the shiny metal between Lovino's wrists and yanked it up, tearing the rope apart and making Lovino wince.

"Don't try anything, ya hear me?"

Lovino scoffed, fearful yet determined to appear tuff. "Like I could." He gestured toward his collar.

"Right." Denmark seemed to be at a loss for words, as if this situation was unfamiliar to him. He stood back up, his hands on his hips as he stood proud and dominant over Lovino's comparatively small form, until the truck hit a bump in the road, nearly tipping the man over and forcing him to reach to the siding for support. Tino snickered.

"I heard that!" He barked at Tino, scaring the poor boy.

"Hey Den, you seem really on edge today. What's gotten into you?" The soft voice sounded from inside the truck again, shouting to be heard over the wind. Denmark stomped the couple of feet to the window carefully, mindful of any bumps the truck made from here on out. He rested his arms on the frame of the truck's missing back windshield, crossing one leg over the other as he leaned his head into the truck to continue the conversation without having to shout. Lovino couldn't hear most of it, but he told himself that he didn't really care. He put his free arms around his legs, pulling himself into a ball.

The tuck raddled beneath him for what _must _have been hours; he waited in silence while his kidnappers carried on conversations like he wasn't even there. At some point, Tino had attempted talking with him, but Lovino wasn't having any of it. He sat and he waited. He waited for this ride to be over. He waited to know his destination, his fate. He waited for this dream to be over so that he could wake from this nightmare. He waited for his Spaniard to swoop in and rescue him like he had those long days ago in the vault. Hours passed and none of those things happened, and Lovino was starting to doubt that they ever would. The hope of waking from his nightmare began to fade, and hopes of seeing Antonio dwindled as well. He knew his new life was too good to be true. He knew it, but he still believed that he had a chance. He believed that he could have made it in the wasteland at Antonio's side. But no, he slowly began to accept what was coming. His future was uncertain, after all, who could know what would happen to him from here? He was a slave. He was expendable. However, he did hold on to one fact that _did _give him hope: he was a vault dweller. He was valuable, one way or another, and he chewed on ways to use that to his advantage as he stared out over the wide stretch of broken highway they traveled over.

_Things will work out, _he thought. Nothing could be worse than what he was feeling now. Let these slavers dish out everything they had on him; he could take anything at this point. Besides, what was the absolute worst thing they could do to him that they haven't done already? Lovino let out a sigh that was lost in the wind that pulled his hair every which way. He imagined his sigh being buffeted by the strong winds, escaping high above him and floating out of sight while he sat helplessly in the rattling vehicle, encumbered by his new bonds of slavery. There was only one thought that repeated itself in Lovino's mind now, simple but true, as are most things in life when you shed all of the unimportant details. _This was not fair._


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

"_Qué!?_ What do you mean you haven't seen him!?" Antonio slammed his hands down on the bar as he questioned a rather perplexed Brit. Francis and Gilbert sat at a table behind him, their heads propped on their hands.

"Oh will you _relax, _Antonio?" Muttered Gilbert, "he'll turn up." The trio had returned to Radwater late that morning only to discover the absence of the local Italian, and the other residents of Radwater just emerging for the day. One of those residents happened to be Arthur, who was questioned the minute he was visible behind his bar by a frantic Spaniard.

Antonio turned his shoulders towards the other two, still in somewhat of a shock. He forced himself into calming down, telling himself that yeah, Lovi was probably just out on a walk. Thinking it over in his mind, he figured that despite the sinking feeling in his stomach, that was probably a much more likely alternative to something absurd, like Lovino being captured and hauled miles away by unforgiving bandits or something as ridiculous and farcical as that.

His shoulders sunk and his tense arms loosened as he turned back to a disgruntled barkeep, sighing. "Yeah, maybe you guys are right. _Lo siento, _Arthur."

"Yes, yes, just try not to do it again would you? I have a headache as it is, I don't need you three prancing around in front of my bar, kicking up dust and whining about missing children. Honestly." Arthur glared over his bartop at the two malcontented raiders behind Antonio.

"Have you tried that little boulder he likes to sit on?" Arthur waved a hand downriver in the general direction of the rock they had been on last night.

"_Sí, _we passed by there on the way back, _amigo._ He wasn't there."

"Right, well go check again, get away from my pub." He waved them off, picking up a glass to polish it mindlessly. Antonio turned around, trudging a few feet to the table where his friends sat.

"Does anyone want to go with me?"

Francis waved the hand that wasn't supporting his head through the air.

"I'm staying here," he groaned.

Gilbert rolled his eyes. "I'll go with ya, buddy." He pulled himself out of his neon-colored plastic seat to start walking the way they came. "The sooner we find this kid, the sooner we can get outa here."

"Thanks, Gil."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Let's just get going. I can't wait to put Radwater behind us, just being here is starting to make me super uncomfortable, and you know what I'm like when I'm uncomfortable. Do you want me to be uncomfortable, Antonio?"

Antonio, catching up with Gilbert, shook his head and chuckled softly. "Not really, no." Truthfully, Antonio _did _know what the German was like when he was uncomfortable. It was mostly just a lot of complaining and unpleasantness for everyone involved. They hurried to the site of Lovino's favorite stone platform, not finding the Italian there when they showed up. Antonio's stomach flipped and the panic really started to set in upon further investigation of the site.

At first glance, the clearing looked average, ordinary... but how could Antonio have missed the fresh tire tracks that were so obviously torn into the landscape? The trampled ground was too conspicuous, too distinguishable. He cursed himself for not having noticed the disturbed terrain on the first trip through this area.

"Hey, it probably has something to do with all of these completely visible and totally unconcealed tire tracks all over the place." Antonio couldn't tell if his friend was being sarcastic or not. It didn't really matter. Antonio's breaths were short and labored as his lungs seemed to constrict in his chest. He inhaled deeply, attempting to inflate the shriveled organs as his knees buckled and he fell to the ground.

He spoke, his voice cracking and barely more than a whisper.

"Yeah, I think so."

* * *

"I mean, I don't even want to be doing this job! But it's not like I have any choices anymore, with Den and my little brother and everything, I mean... I do it for the pay. The pay is really good." Norway gripped the steering wheel of the truck with both of his hands, his knuckles pale as he drove through the night.

Lovino was absolutely speechless. This strange man had been so stern and quiet since Lovino had taken a place in the passenger seat when Norway's little brother wanted to lay down. Being the only two still awake, they sat together in the front of the truck in silence for roughly an hour until something snapped not but a few minutes prior.

"At first it was okay, you know, I didn't think about it at all. But you listen here, vault-dweller, this... this just sucks okay? It sucks."

Lovino glared at his kidnapper with his mouth slightly agape and one eyebrow raised in a taut, disgusted expression. Lovino had no idea how he was expected to respond.

"I mean, gods, I don't know what I'm talking about. Just, I'm sorry, I guess is what I'm trying to say. It's not up to me."

An apology? Lovino hadn't seen that one coming at all. His mouth snapped shut. He took a good look at his options before proceeding, and keeping his mouth clamped tightly shut was at the top of his agenda.

"It's just such easy work for the amount we get paid, and I... I just have to... I want you to understand."

Lovino's head snapped forward and silence fell over both of them as Lovi contemplated Norway's sudden change in character. He had noticed the dark bags beneath the blond man's dull eyes and wondered exactly how long the wastelander had been driving. It had to have been a long time, they had been cruising for _hours_ along one road now. They had only stopped a few times since departing from Radwater, once to refill on gas and then again for Lovino to switch places with Iceland. Actually, Lovino wasn't allowed to call him 'Iceland' or 'Icey' or 'Ice'.

_"... Or anything else that even sounds like Ice. You know what? Just don't refer to me at all. Ever. It's not like you would need to, anyways."_

A few more minutes passed before Norway spoke again.

"What's your name, kid?"

"Lovino," He spat, before he was able to stop himself. "And I'm not a kid, for your information." Who was he kidding. Of course he was a kid. He wasn't going to let Norway in on that, though. He'd probably sell for even more if they knew that he was underage.

Norway lifted an eyebrow. "Right, just like Fin."

Okay, so they'd probably sell him for underage rates anyways, if such a thing existed.

Lovino huffed. He was talking now, so he might as well keep going. He just hoped he didn't make any mistakes in his speech.

"What is that boy's deal anyways?" When Norway gave him a quizzical look, he continued. "I mean, with the collar. Is he a slave too?"

"Yeah. Fin belongs to that big guy in back, Sweden's his name. Long story short, we weren't able to turn him in to our boss, so he ended up being a waste of time and money on Den's part. What's done is done I suppose." He said with a sigh.

Lovino wondered what had kept them from reaping the benefits of Tino's capture in the first place, but he didn't bother asking.

Instead, he found himself asking, "Why is he so damn _happy _all the time?"

"Sweden's real good to the kid. A little too good if you ask me. Carries Fin around with him wherever he goes, treats him like he's not even a slave. Kid doesn't know his place around here anymore, not like there's anything the rest of us can do about it."

"What do you mean you can't do anything?"

Norway sent him a sideways glance. "You've seen that man. What would _you _do? Even Den hasn't been able to order him around completely. I mean, he does what is ordered of him and he does it very well, but when it comes down to it, Sweden's his own boss."

Lovino found that easy to believe. He didn't think that he would be able to tell that towering, terrifying man to do anything in the slightest.

A few moments went by in silence before Lovino spoke again. "What's with the weird nicknames? Those names you've been using, they aren't your real names, are they."

Norway thought, tilting his head upwards while still keeping his eyes fixated on the dark stretch of road before them. "No, I guess not. Seems like it though." That's all he said on the subject.

Lovino urged him to continue. "Well, why do you use them?"

"Denmark picked them out when he and I were kids. I think I might be the last person on Earth who actually knows his real name, now that I think about it. Ice hates it, as you might have noticed, but Sweden and Finny don't seem to mind at all." His expression tightened and his brow sunk at the obviously pleasant memory.

Lovino never was one to sympathize on most emotions, never having a natural knack to pick up on them like everyone else seemed able to. But talking a way out of this situation seemed to make for an easy enough goal with a man such as this, which led him to realize that he had an awful lot to gain and next to nothing to lose now. So he took a stab.

"You miss that, don't you?"

"Miss what?" The blond man asked. Lovino struggled to come up with an answer without a pause.

"Those memories. You miss them, don't you?" He inquired again, repeating his question. He prayed that his poor conversation skills would suck it up as he pushed forward.

"Yeah, I suppose I do. Before any of this stuff happened, before Demark landed us this shit job. It was a lot easier to get by as a kid, you know?"

There we go.

"You don't have to do it." His voice came a little too quickly.

"Yeah, says you, the victim. But I've got mouths to feed, so it's you or Icey. And I'd choose Ice over some strange kid any day."

"But there's other work, right?" Lovino asked, forcing his voice to maintain normality. Then he thought of Antonio. What his gang did had to be better than these slavers, it _had _to be. They didn't _really _ruin somebody this bad, did they? Lovino certainly didn't think so. The only thing Antonio's little band of raiders ever did to him was free him from a life he hated and give him something to really live for. But what about others? How could Feliciano and Grandpa feel about Antonio, Gilbert, and Francis now that they have taken their family member away from them?

"Yeah, Like what? Mercenary work? Maybe it's a little more honest, but it just doesn't pay out."

Lovino didn't know what sort of work was out there in the wastes, but there had to be better work than slaving.

"Besides, we're good at this work. Real good. Some might say that we're the best. Boss really likes us, he does."

Boss? This was the first time that Lovino fully realized that there was a higher power involved in his kidnapping.

"So that's where we are heading? To cash me in like an old arcade ticket to some perverted vendor at a Chuck E Cheese prize counter?"

Norway's spared glance was quizzical. "Look, I don't know what a 'Chuckycheese' is, but I'm sorry, I really am."

"Why are you turning me over to this guy anyway? Why don't you just sell me yourself, cut out the middle man?"

"Well, I don't know, why would you sell your goods to a merchant?"

Norway made a valid point. Still, Lovino had questions.

"Will you tell me what it'll be like?" The question felt odd on Lovino's breath, as if he still wasn't convinced that slavery was real. It seemed absurd to ask about a farce such as slavery.

Norway shrugged. "I don't know, I'm not a slave."

There was a pause while Lovino offered up his most stricken, confused, and slightly disgusted stare. Norway only sighed.

"Look, you'll be taken to- I don't suppose you know where Paradise Falls is?" Lovino shook his head. "Well, we're taking you there. It's in the Capital Wasteland, around DC. Not too far now, actually. Then, our boss decides where you go from there, depending on the highest bidder."

Norway paused, taking his eyes off of the road momentarily to glance at Lovino. "You're not a working slave, more of a mantel piece, being a vault-dweller and all. No offense. The worst that could happen to you... well, how does prostitution sound?"

Lovino's lips tightened into a snarl. Okay, that was _not _happening. He didn't know what else to think about other that the absolute absurdity and improbability that situation. It just wasn't happening, not on Lovino's watch

"Not going to happen."

"That's not up to you, vault-dweller."

"Antonio probably knows I'm gone by now, he's probably looking for me. He'll come for me, I know he will." Lovino wasn't even sure how true his words were. Of course Antonio would come for him, right?

"How long have you know this guy, a week? Less? He's the _raider _who grabbed you out if that vault, right?"

He made it sound so terrible.

"Got to be an absolute idiot to pull a vault-dweller to the surface _now, _not with the Enclave operating like it is. Why'd he do it? How is it any different from what we're doing now?"

Lovino's lungs inflated with breath. There was a pause.

"I told him to take me," he breathed out on his exhale.

Norway's lips twitched ever so slightly. "Look where that's gotten you now. That's pretty cruel, huh? Why the hell would you bug out of a perfect safe haven?"

The Italian was ready to answer the simple inquiry, but before he could, a realization that made him question encompassed his already-muddled mind. When had Lovino's drive for the outside world changed from the prospect of fresh air and freedom to the thought of spending long nights with a certain Spaniard? Yeah, maybe he had a _slight _thing for Antonio, but this couldn't be. His demeanor completely transformed in an attempt to mask the physical change his expression must have undergone.

"Mind your own damn business!" He snapped, a little too angrily.

"Woah, calm down there, vault-dweller. You better mind yourself if you want to keep that tongue," the blond kidnapper threatened. "Why the sudden profanities?"

"Pshh, you couldn't take my tongue from me." He challenged, steering clear of the other topic.

"You're going to question me?"

"My... my value would go down, wouldn't it! You'd get in trouble."

"It might just be worth it if you don't shut up."

Whatever. Lovino crossed his arms and refrained from barking another reply, wary of turning this situation into a something terrible. As much as he hated to admit it, he had a place and he was going to have to stay in it if he was going to get out with his body intact. Lovino just wondered how long he would be able to remind himself of that.

Despite having occasional comments and questions spoken aloud to him, Lovino stayed quiet for the remainder of the ride. He focused on the dark rocks and dead trees illuminated solely by the dim, gray light of the moon and stars above. The moon and stars that Lovino had only first seen a few days ago. Mountains had surrounded them since midday, as opposed to the somewhat flattened landscape around Radwater. Lovino couldn't make out much of his surroundings in the darkness, but from what he could see he knew that it was like nothing he had ever seen before. But that was before they had pulled out of the mountainous region. The land was flattening around Lovino once again, and before long, they were closing in on a far away light that settled itself delicately on the horizon. Lovino swallowed past the sudden lump in his throat. There was no way he could know for sure, but if he had one guess he'd wager that the truck was heading to that light.

As they drew closer over the parched land, not a single word was uttered between Lovino and his kidnapper. Not until the truck's worn tires ground to a stop before the towering metal walls of Paradise Falls.

Norway's hand went to cut the engine with a swift, practiced movement just as Denmark's head appeared in the back window.

"Looks like this is it, vault-dweller. End of the line. For us anyways." Denmark's smirk was as wide as his face.

Both Norway and Lovino jumped at the wild man's sudden appearance. "For Christ's sake, Den, how long have you been awake?" Norway questioned.

"Mmmm, I dunno, an hour or so? What's it matter?"

Norway exhaled. "It doesn't, I guess. I'm just thankful you decided to stay back there," he said in a much more monotone voice, "Gods forbid I have to listen to your loud mouth all the way back."

Lovino couldn't tell if Norway was being sincere until he saw the man' lip turn up in the tiniest of smiles.

Denmark's lip twitched as well. "C'mon babe, you're just showing off."

"Don't get weird on me, Den," he scoffed, his brief smile contorting.

"Now I _know _you're showing off," Denmark's accusation was more of a hum.

"To who, a _slave?_"

"What? He's not that bad, actually. I'd buy him."

"You wouldn't."

Lovino's head twisted back and forth with every reply. He felt very confused and slightly offended.

"Only because we're broke."

"Bullshit. I know you wouldn't."

"On the contrary. This one is quite the fetching catch." Denmark adopted a fake accent to recite the line.

"Why the hell would you need a slave?"

"You mean to tell me that I don't?"

"You don't!"

"Only because you pretty much are one, babe," He hummed again.

"Remind me to hit you once we drop off this vault-dweller," Norway snarled.

_What the hell is going on?_ Lovino lifted an eyebrow and screwed up his face. He listened to the two strange wastelanders argue back and forth with a sneer on his lips.

"Oh right! The vault-dweller. Yeah, maybe we should be taking care of that now..." The man with the wild hair looked right at Lovino. Right in the eyes.

Lovi hadn't had time to feel the fear that he thought he would. Instead, that part of his mind had remained blank for the entire ride, as if it were actually just a dream. It _felt _like a dream, so until just now, Lovino felt a sensation close to floating as they drew closer and closer to the end of the trip. It wasn't until now did the reality finally kick in, making the awaited fear pull him down to the earth with such a force that it almost swallowed him whole. He felt the collar tight around his neck, a painful reminder designed to teach him exactly what slavery meant from the starting gate. He wanted to run, he wanted to crawl back into his vault to hide with Feli and Grandpa, to take advantage of the perfect peace that was available in the vault. The perfect peace that he gave up for a perfect Spaniard…

"Alright." Norway opened the door on the driver's side, hopping out of the truck and landing in the gravel with both feet. Lovino could hear Denmark's boots stepping across the bed of the truck, stopping a few times to offer kicks to the three sleeping forms.

"C'mon guys, no time to be sleeping!" Lovino heard the gravel crunch under Denmark's weight as the man dropped to the ground.

Iceland, or whatever he was called, stepped past Lovino's window with his arms crossed.

"I'm going to get a drink," he spoke with an air of finality, as if no one was going to tell him that he couldn't.

"Why doncha get me one, huh Icey?" Denmark shouted over the truck at Norway's younger brother.

"Why don't you get you own drink for a change, Denmark." He sauntered between two walls of sheet metal, not even sparing a glance for the slightly disappointed Dane who was left to take care of business without promise of a drink afterwards.

Norway and Denmark stood by as they watched Berwald follow after Iceland, tugging Tino behind him. Tino gave the other two an apologetic smile before they disappeared behind the walls.

"Why has he been so harsh lately?" Denmark asked, and Lovino assumed that Iceland was the harsh person in question.

"Cut him some slack, Den. You know what he just went through."

Lovino would have been curious had he been in any other situation right then.

"Whatever, he's being stupid. It was just some bird."

"We're not talking about this right now," Norway stated as he shut the door of the truck. "We got caps waiting on us."

Denmark nodded in agreement as Norway rounded the hood of the truck, leaning into it and raking his hand over the chipped green paint. He threw open the rusted door and grabbed Lovino by his wrist. The Italian fell forward at the sudden and unexpected force from the kidnapper, stumbling out of the truck uneasily as he was pulled forward before he was able to steady himself.

Norway mumbled a quiet apology at Lovino, but he didn't slow down as he dragged the kid through the gap in the sheet metal walls, not unlike the way Tino was dragged a few moments ago. Denmark tailed them around a slight turn where they completely bypassed a dark man sitting behind a shallow wall of sandbags.

"Hey Norge, whaddya got there?" Norway ignored the man completely, and Lovino tried not to make eye contact; keeping his head down and his eyes focused on his toes as he scuffled after Norway. His dark hair fell into his face to act as a shield against the strangers who's attention was drawn as they entered a clearing. He could feel the eyes on the group as he wondered why none of them had anything better to do this late at night. Lovino couldn't see much, other than what was directly in front of his feet. He didn't want to see. He didn't want to _be _seen. This was actually happening, he was _actually _a slave. He wasn't waking up from this dream after all, so the best he could do was hide himself as he felt his eyes start to water and his nose start to tingle with the promise of tears. No, he wasn't going to cry. He was not going to cry, dammit!

He realized that his protests were in vain when he felt a salty tear run down his red cheeks, followed by another and another. He tried not to sniffle; he wasn't going to let his kidnappers know he was crying. He discretely rubbed his eyes with the sleeve of his rough brown shirt, lifting his face to watch as Norway slowed in front of a door, stopping to the side of it and letting Denmark step in front of him. He still held tightly onto Lovino's wrist, and for a moment the Italian contemplated struggling against his grip. No, he better not.

Denmark flashed Norway a meaningless smile as he pressed his weight into one of the double doors, pushing it forward with little effort. The room inside was dark, save for a dim light that illuminated the interior with a dim glow. Denmark disappeared inside, quickly followed by Norway and Lovino. The door slammed shut behind them, and judging by the sound it made, Lovi could tell that the metal door was a lot heavier than it looked.

A rugged man sitting in a shabby red lounge chair looked up from the stack of yellowed papers he was squinting at.

"We're back, boss," Denmark announced with pride in his voice.

The man stacked the papers neatly by tapping them gently on his knee and laying them down flat. He leaned forward slightly and clasped his dark hands together in his lap before he spoke, his voice creepy yet commanding despite speaking only a single word, the syllables slow and a little bit over-emphasized.

"Excellent."

* * *

_A/N: Wow. Short chapter, sorry, blah blah blah... I know this chapter should have been longer given the TWO MONTHS that I took on it, but the going was slow, with school and working and whatnot. (Well, I say work, but all I do is sit around making Kigurumis for people wah) Well, reviews are encouraged no matter what, and I can use all of the encouragement that I can get. Also, I'm sorry if I seem like a poo poo head when I don't reply, but it's just that I'm kinda shy. But not this time, this time I promise I will get back to you on every review. (And by every review, I mean the two or three that I might get.) (Thank you guys so much.)_

_Hey and I don't remember if I specified who the boss was, but it's pretty easy to guess. If I didn't already spill, I'd like to know what you guys think!_

_ALSO! If anyone wants to know what Germany and Italy are doing, GO CHECK OUT VERLIEBTHEIT on my page!_

_UNTIL NEXT CHAPTER, Wolfey out:3_


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